Shifting Generations Saga
by Wolf General
Summary: Duel Academy has become ground zero for an event that spans the timeline, and its up to Yuki Judai and company to fight off the threat that has arrived. The real question though...which side is the right side to be on?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This is going to be a weird one, so bear with it. First off, I don't own Yugioh GX. Never had and never will, but that should be obvious. Second, there's going to be a weird use of names in this story, like the use of last name before first that is used in Japanese culture. (When used verbally there will be the reverse, or the Japanese way, while thought mentally or through the author it will be the American way of saying a name.)

Third, I'm using the Japanese names of the canon characters and of any Duel Spirits that may appear. (Winged Kuriboh doesn't work for me, but Hane Kuriboh sounds just fine.)

General warning: This entire story will more than likely have spoilers for the end of Season Two of GX, so if you don't like spoilers (I'm looking at you dub-watching-type people) then please don't say I didn't warn you.

Commence Wolf General writing idea '#I haven't been keeping track' now!

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Shifting Generation Saga (SGS for short)

Chapter 1: Clash of Spaces (Part 1)

_Some say that time is like a river, a constantly flowing stream of events that tie together into one large mass which is forever moving forward. Others say it is like a spring, a spiral that occasionally crashes its parts together and creates fluctuations in time. _

_No one can say what time really is though, except that perhaps it is both the most reliable and the most unpredictable of things. Seconds will always be seconds, and they will always pass like seconds. It's the same with minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. _

_Yet the unpredictability comes from the fact there are moments in time that sometimes skip, jump, or do things no one expected it to do. This is one of those moments, and its consequences will stretch across the universe if left unchecked._

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In a clearing located somewhere on the island of Duel Academy, there was a young man wearing an Osiris Red blazer sitting in the grass. He looked to his left, and then to his right. His nose twitched a little and he frowned, crossing his arms across his chest and tilting his head to the side as if he was going into some kind of deep contemplation.

"Let's see, I remember walking into a tree. Or did the tree walk into me? That's what it felt like anyway. After that I was here. But here doesn't feel like the here I know, it feels like a here somewhere other than here." His hazel eyes opened and he blinked in surprise. "That was a frighteningly deep thing for me to say. Maybe I should stop thinking about it. After all, I'm sure an answer is on the way."

His hand reached over and grabbed his backpack, pulling the piece of red sewed fabric in front of him and unzipping it. "Let's see…Duel Disk…Textbooks…PDA…Emergency Snackage…"

Zipping the bag closed again, he wondered if the answer was coming soon. "Hurry up; I don't want to sit here forever!" The grass underneath him crunched softly as he collapsed against it.

A soft wind blew past his body, tickling the brown wolf ears on top of his head and causing them to flatten against his mess of poofy chestnut-brown hair. ("Oh well, at least summer is fast approaching.") With the wind kissing his cheek he closed his eyes and started to remember the school year.

Ichigo Pilkington had never had the most normal of lives. His best friends were either half-demons like him, a group of aliens, or just plain strange. Oh, did he forget to mention that he was a superhero that was supposed to fight some of the bad aliens which followed his alien friends to earth?

Yeah, sometimes he wondered if there was some outside force directing his life. After all, the kind of insanity that followed him wherever he went was definitely not normal. ("Honestly, my life's become so strange that now if something strange doesn't happen I'm worried that it isn't my life.") That was probably why, despite the fact that to his sensitive wolf-strength nose, ears, and senses this place wasn't the Duel Academy he knew, he wasn't all that panicked.

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Yuki Judai peeked under the bush in front of him before lifting his head back up and looking at the small phantasmal ball of winged fur floating around his head and chirping worriedly. "What's the matter, Hane Kuriboh? You led me out here but you won't tell me why."

Not that it was like he had anything else to do. With the current semester rapidly on the verge of ending, Judai had little to do since the Organization of Light and Edo had left Duel Academy. The most exciting thing he could recall doing for the last week was dodging Rei Saotome, who seemed intent on fawning over him after her inception into the academy.

Hane Kuriboh chirped once more and faded away, leaving Judai to wonder if whether his partner had just led him out here just to get him excited about the possibility of a new adventure and new opponents to duel. He certainly wouldn't have minded a bit of fun. It would have given him an excuse to avoid studying for finals that wouldn't get Sho on his case.

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Ichigo, back still to the grass as he enjoyed the warmth of the sun on his face, opened his eyes finally. "Well I guess I'd better start investigating why this doesn't feel like my Duel Academy." Was it another dimension? That was possible. "Maybe I just got a concussion when I walked into the tree?"

A bush at the edge of the clearing rustled and Judai's head emerged from it, looking around questioningly. ("I thought I heard someone's voice from over here.") "Hello? Is somebody there?"

Up in the branches of a long-reaching tree, Ichigo perched quietly amongst the leaves and tried to calm himself down. ("That was a bit of an extreme reaction from just hearing someone coming, don't you think?") The question was posed by his inner voice, and he didn't have any reason to dispute it.

Judai walked into the middle of the clearing, rubbing the back of his head and wondering if his boredom was making him imagine things now. ("I'm sure I heard something though…") He stepped forward and his foot bumped into something. "Huh?"

("Oh no…") Ichigo started panicking as he realized he had left his backpack on the ground. ("Think fast! Gotta think fast!")

"Somebody lost their backpack out here…" Judai picked up the bag up, surprised by its weight. "This thing weighs a ton! What are they carrying in here? Bricks?" A click noise came from inside it and the backpack bulged as if something was trying to escape. "That sounded like a Duel Disk activating."

Ichigo silently wished he had something nearby to bang his head against. ("Why did my Duel Disk activate? Oh please don't open the bag, please don't open the bag…just go away and leave it alone…")

"I'd better turn it off so it doesn't tear the bag up." Dropping into a cross-legged sit, Judai pulled the zipper along its track and removed the activated Duel Disk. "Hey, they left their deck in here too. That's pretty careless of them."

("Go away!") Ichigo mentally screamed, hoping that his wish could change reality and make the person disappear in a burst of smoke. Of course nothing happened though, and Judai had removed the deck from the device. "Do you rifle through other people's possessions just cause they're lying around?"

"Oh, there you are." Judai grinned up at the rustling tree branch as he heard someone groan in frustration. "What're you doing up there? Why don't you come down?"

"First I need to ask you a couple of questions," The voice muttered, sounding rather cross. "This is Duel Academy, right?"

"Of course, where else would it be? You're a student here, aren't you?" Judai held up one of the textbooks with both hands, inspecting its surface with surprise on his face. "I've never seen these textbooks before. Are you part of an Honors program or something?"

A red and brown blur dropped out of the tree and landed in front of him, apparently unaffected by the impact of the fall. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." A messy-haired guy in an Osiris Red uniform wearing a pair of sunglasses stood up and smiled. "Sorry about yelling at you, I just…" He grew silent, looking at Judai's face. "Wow, do you know that you're the spitting image of Yuki Judai?"

"Huh?" Judai looked a little confused and then laughed at the joke. "Of course I look like Yuki Judai, I am Yuki Judai."

"Oh…" The older boy put his hands on top of his head, flattening the hair there. ("Stupid ears, don't twitch in surprise! Don't give away my cover!") "Is that so? Well I'm sorry to say…" He had a bit of mocking tone to his voice. "But I don't believe you."

"You…you don't?" Judai sweatdropped. He found it hard to take offense of the words of a guy who had his hands over his head and therefore looked like he was acting like some kind of monkey. "Ummm, why would you say I'm not me?"

"Because Yuki Judai is a great man that I truly respect," The other Osiris Red student dropped one hand down and pointed at Judai. "And he's older than me. Plus…" He put his hands at his sides, nothing that he had to look down at Judai just a little bit. "He's also taller than me. You do look a lot like him though, that's for sure."

"I'm telling you though," Judai wasn't sure how to argue that he was himself, or at least dissuade what seemed to be someone's image of him. It wasn't a conversation he ever expected that he would be having in his lifetime. "I am Yuki Judai. Maybe you mean another Judai though?"

"I guess I must." The guy turned and looked up at the sky, a grin on his face. "Judai-sensei was the amazing man that taught me to be a hero. He's a great Elemental Hero duelist too."

"Wow, that's a really amazing coincidence." Judai laughed at how odd of a sense of humor the world seemed to have sometimes. "I run an Elemental Hero deck too. This Yuki Judai guy sounds like a real cool guy though…"

"Oh yeah, I haven't even introduced myself." The other Osiris Red smiled and offered a hand. "My name is Pilkington Ichigo, pleasure to meet you."

"I guess you already figured it out, but my name's Yuki Judai." The two grasped hands and shook firmly.

Ichigo looked down at the hand he had used to shake with quizzically. ("Okay, that felt weird.") Reaching down and picking up his backpack, he pulled out his Duel Disk. "Excuse me Judai-san, but if you've got the time would you mind dueling with me?"

"Of course!" After meeting an interesting guy like this Ichigo, Judai would have been disappointed if he hadn't gotten such a chance. "Is here fine?"

"Yup, here's fine." Ichigo strapped his Duel Disk onto his left arm slowly, his eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. ("His hands felt just like Judai-sensei's hands. Now I can't just discount it as a coincidence. I've got to find out for myself in a duel.")

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_A minute later…_

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"Duel!" Both Judai and Ichigo activated their duel disks at the same time.

Ichigo- 4000

Judai- 4000

"Since I made the challenge it would only be appropriate if I went first! Draw!" Ichigo pulled the top card off of his deck and added it to his hand. ("I have to be sure of this. Therefore I'll come at you with everything I have.") "I activate the magic card Polymerization. As an Elemental Hero duelist I'm sure you know what that does right?"

"Right." Judai nodded his head slightly.

"Then I won't need to explain what I'm doing beyond this." Ichigo held up two cards from his hand. "I fuse the Final Shadow God Crystal Knight in my hand and the Star Shadow Wolf next to it into Star Wolf Rider!" A crystal-armored knight riding atop a wolf mount made of dark blue crystal appeared on Ichigo's field. (?) "This monster's attack and defense are equal to the compound attack and defense of its fusion components." (2700/2900) "I summon it in defense mode and end my turn."

("In just his first turn he summoned a monster with such high attack and defense...") An electric tingle ran down Judai's spine and he grinned as he drew. "I summon Neospacian Air Hummingbird in defense mode!" A bird-humanoid appeared on his field in a crouching position, its wings folded around itself protectively. (800/600) "Since I can't beat your monster this turn, I have to prepare for the worst! I activate Air Hummingbird's effect. Honeysuckle!"

Ichigo was now ninety percent sure. Three flowers appeared over his field and the Neospacian flew amongst them, inserting its beak into buds and then flapping back over Judai's field. It flapped his wings and a glittering rain of green sparkles fell down around Judai's body.

"For every card in your hand I gain 500 life points." Judai smirked confidently, despite the fact that his Air Hummingbird was weaker than the Star Wolf Rider by far. "End turn."

Ichigo- 4000

Judai- 5500

Ichigo frowned at Judai before he drew for his turn. ("Judai-sensei never dueled me with his Neospacians in his deck, so I have no idea what to expect in this battle. I know the effects of the monsters themselves, but it doesn't make me feel better.") "I activate the magic card Fusion Recovery, adding Star Shadow Wolf and Polymerization from my graveyard to my hand." The two named cards slid out of his graveyard slot and he picked them up, but in that same motion he threw the Star Shadow Wolf card onto his disk. "I summon Star Shadow Wolf in attack mode!" A copy of the mount being used by the Crystal Knight appeared on his field. (1500/1000)

Judai gulped as he watched the Star Wolf Rider slowly come out of its crouch as it switched into attack mode.

"Star Shadow Wolf attacks Air Hummingbird! Star Shadow Howl!" Ichigo's non-fusion wolf howled loudly, the sound waves crashing into the Neospacian and blowing him apart. "When Star Shadow Wolf destroys a monster as a result of battle and sends it to the graveyard I draw one card."

"And now," Ichigo pointed directly at Judai. "Star Wolf Rider, attack his life points directly!" The fusion charged forward and crashed into Judai with its lance. "I set one card face-down and end my turn." A face-down card appeared behind his Star Shadow Wolf while his Star Wolf Rider returned to his side of the field.

Ichigo- 4000

Judai- 2800

"I can tell that this will be a great duel!" Judai barely seemed affected by the attack, a grin on his face as he drew from his deck. "I activate the magic card Emergency Call, adding one Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand." Removing his deck from its slot, he fanned the cards out and quickly made his selection before returning the stack of cards to its original place.

"And then I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode!" A blue-armored superhero appeared on Judai's field in a burst of bubbles, his cape flowing around him. (800/1200) "When Bubbleman is summoned and I have no other cards in play I can draw twice." Adding two more cards to his hand, he grinned. "I still can't beat your fusion, but I can match it with one of my own."

A swirling portal of energy appeared over his field. "I activate Polymerization, fusing the Elemental Hero Clayman in my hand with the Bubbleman on my field!" The two named monsters appeared, were pulled into the portal, and then a round-armored heavy superhero appeared on his field in a crouching position. "I summon Mudballman in defense mode!" (1900/3000) "End turn."

"It's my turn, draw!" Ichigo narrowed his eyes at Mudballman. ("That defense is way too high for me to do anything about.") "End turn."

("Good, I managed to stop him from attacking for now.") Judai drew and realized the downside to this situation though. ("Until I do something about his attacking monsters I can't summon any of the other monsters in my hand. They won't be strong enough.") "End turn."

It was Ichigo's turn now, but before he drew he glanced at one of the cards in his hand. ("If I use this now then I'll be able to shuffle my deck and maybe increase the chances of drawing a card capable of beating Mudballman's defense.") Then he drew and added the card to his hand, readjusting his sunglasses to make sure his slotted eyes couldn't be seen. "End turn."

"Draw!" Judai slid one of the cards in his hand into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"My turn again," Ichigo emphasized the last part of that, wondering how long he was going to have to wait for Judai to counterattack. ("Is just one of my fusions really that hard to beat?") "I place one card face-down and end my turn, just like you did." A card appeared alongside his earlier-set reverse card.

"Now's the time for my counterattack, draw!" Judai smiled at the card he had pulled, holding it up for Ichigo to see. "I activate Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and then discarding two." A trio of cards left the top of his deck and was added to his hand, after which he selected two different cards and discarded them. "I summon Card Gunner in attack mode!" A weird robot that looked like it came out of an old 60s science fiction movie appeared on his field. (400/400)

"I activate the effect of Card Gunner." Judai placed his hand on top of his deck. "Once per turn I can discard cards from my deck to the graveyard. The maximum number is three, and per card I discard Card Gunner gains 500 attack points until the end of the turn! I choose to discard three cards!" His deck slot clicked as he pulled three cards off and placed them in the graveyard tray, the Duel Disk moving them one by one into the graveyard. (1900/400)

"A 1900 attack monster won't beat my fusion, Judai-san." Ichigo smiled because he saw the smile on Judai's face. ("He knows that, but he has something else up his sleeve.")

The Osiris Red duelist grabbed a card from his hand and slid it into his disk, a magic card with a picture of a purple O on it appearing on his field. "I activate the magic card Oversoul, special summoning one normal Elemental Hero from my graveyard to the field!" A blast of light erupted from his graveyard and a mighty gray-colored superhero appeared in play on his field. "Elemental Hero Neos, its Showtime!" (2500/2000)

"So you summoned Neos…" Ichigo muttered this to himself before raising his voice so that Judai could hear him. "That alone won't be enough."

"I know that." Judai pointed at the card that was face-down on his field, which flipped up to reveal a magic card with a picture of a blue H. "I activate the magic card Heat Heart, increasing the attack of Elemental Hero Neos by 500 points until the end of the turn!" (3000/2000)

Mudballman stood out of its crouching position as it switched to attack mode. "Mudballman, attack Star Shadow Wolf now! Mud Crash!" The hero skidded across the field and bounced the crystal monster off its shoulder, shattering it.

Ichigo- 3600

Judai- 2800

"Neos attacks Star Wolf Rider, Lance of Neos!" Judai punched his fist at the fusion and his space-faring superhero flew across the field, breaking the combination monster with a powerful chop from its arm.

Ichigo- 3300

Judai- 2800

Ichigo braced himself against the powerful backlash that hit his body. "Reverse card open!" One of his set cards flipped up and a black-clothed humanoid holding a heavy steel shield in front of it appeared on the field. "Night Signal activates when a monster on my field is destroyed as a result of battle, special summoning a level four or lower Final Shadow from my deck to the field. My choice is Final Shadow Shield Guardian, which has an original defense equal to the number of defense mode monsters on my field multiplied by 1500!" (0/1500)

"Card Gunner attack Shield Guardian!" Judai watched the robot fire a double blast from its cannon that instantly shattered the defender. "Alright! I end my turn." (400/400)

"Then it's my turn, draw." Ichigo pulled the top card off of his deck. "Now that you've shown me such power, it would be rude not to return it with my own. That's why I'll play this." A magic card appeared on his field and he removed his deck from his Duel Disk. "I activate the magic card Shadow Construction Company. It lets me send two dark machine type monsters from my deck to the graveyard to make one field magic card the top card of my deck." Two cards were slid into his graveyard and he replaced his deck back in its slot.

("A field magic card?") Judai wondered what field magic card it was. ("It doesn't matter though; he won't get it until his next turn.")

"I play Graceful Charity, just like you did." Ichigo drew three cards from his deck and then discarded two, trying his hardest not to smile too widely. If he did then he would reveal his fangs and the whole purpose of his disguise would be negated.

"I summon Final Shadow Night Slasher in attack mode!" A black-robed humanoid form appeared on his field dramatically, an unfelt wind blowing against the fabric surrounding its body. (1100/800) "When this monster is summoned I can destroy a monster in play with original or current attack equal to or less than its own. In other words your Card Gunner is toast. Night Murder!"

Judai gasped as the Final Shadow appeared right behind his robot monster and produced a knife from out of the folds of its robes, slashing the machine in half. "But when Card Gunner is destroyed I draw one card." He added a card to his hand, smiling at what it was.

"Here I come, Judai!" Ichigo grabbed a pair of cards from his hand.

"Bring it on!" The Hero Duelist was ready. He knew what was coming next.

"Reverse card open!" Ichigo's set card flipped up. "I planned on using Polymerization as a bluff, but thanks to this setup I can use it as it was meant to be used instead! I fuse the Final Shadows Psyche Vizier and Blood Saber in my hand with the Night Slasher on my field!" A female monster wearing a metallic helmet and a black-clothed warrior holding a red-tinged sword appeared on his field alongside his Night Slasher.

"Come out now, Final Shadow Psychic Blood Slasher!" The three monsters were sucked into a vortex of energy that appeared above them, and a thin-limbed black skeletal humanoid with a heavy metal helmet over its head floated down onto his field. (2600/2600)

("It's even stronger than Neos!") Judai felt a drop of sweat slide down the side of his head. ("I can't back down here though. As long as I have cards left I won't give up!")

Ichigo opened the field magic card slot on his Duel Disk and place a card into it, their surroundings growing darker and darker. "I activate the field magic card City of Shadows!" Giant shadowed skyscrapers rose up into the air around them, creating a dreary background for the battle. "I activate the effect of City of Shadows, discarding a card from my hand to remove a random card from your graveyard!"

Judai's eyes widened in surprise as a card slid out of his graveyard and a giant version of it appeared in the air above them. "Elemental Hero Wildman…"

"That's right." Ichigo pointed at Judai's field. "When the card removed through the effect of City of Shadows is a monster my opponent selects one monster on their field and returns it to their hand." He crossed his arms across his chest. "Well Judai, hurry and choose."

"I choose Elemental Hero Neos." Judai's space-faring superhero disappeared and its card reappeared in his hand.

"Also the effect of Psychic Blood Slasher activates now." Ichigo motioned to the hologram of Wildman's card, which was now tinted blood-red. "When a monster is removed from your graveyard you take half of that monster's original attack in damage!" A crescent of bloody energy exploded from the card and slammed into Judai's chest roughly. "Psychic Blood Slasher attacks Elemental Hero Mudballman! Psychic Assassin!" A phantasmal humanoid appeared behind the superhero and slashed it in half with its hand before disappearing.

Ichigo- 3300

Judai- 1350

"Also," Ichigo's monster started to make a faint humming noise. "The effect of Psychic Blood Slasher is that when it destroys a monster of yours as a result of battle you place one card from your hand on top of your deck. During your next draw phase you may choose to either draw the bottom or top card of your deck. Well then, pick your card."

Judai inserted a card onto the top of his deck silently, looking rather worried. ("This guy is just as strong as I thought. But I'm not out yet!") "I choose the top of my deck!" He drew the card he just returned and suddenly the fear on his face was gone. "From my graveyard the effect of Elemental Hero Necro Darkman activates now!"

"Necro Darkman…" Ichigo nodded his head slightly. "You get to normal summon an Elemental Hero without sacrifice."

"That's right, and my choice is Elemental Hero Neos!" Judai's superhero reappeared on the field once more in a flash of rainbow light. (2500/2000)

"So you're resummoned Neos? That won't change anything if my Psychic Blood Slasher just destroys it during the next turn." Ichigo pointed at the superhero. "I'm not afraid of the power of Neos. However…" He sneered, and this unfortunately showed off one of his fangs. "Let's see his power!"

"Alright, I'll show it to you!" Judai slid a card into his disk. "I activate the quickplay magic card Quick Summon, normal summoning Neo Spacian Flare Scarab from my hand to the field!" A humanoid beetle appeared on his field alongside Neos. (500/500) "For every magic and trap card on your field Flare Scarab gains 400 attack points." (900/500)

"But that doesn't matter…" Ichigo wasn't a fool. He knew what Neos and the Neospacians did.

"That's right, it doesn't." Judai pointed up at the sky and his two monsters flew up out of sight. "Contact Fusion!" A fireball crashed down onto his field from space, cooling down to reveal a beetle-armored version of Neos. "Elemental Hero Flare Neos is special summoned!" (2500/2000) "For every magic and trap in play Flare Neos gains 400 attack points." (2900/2000)

"But at the end phase of your turn it will return to your fusion deck." Ichigo mentally chastised himself for accidentally revealing his fang, but apparently Judai hadn't noticed. "Well, what are you doing about it? Are you going to attack and hope I don't end it during the next turn?"

"Of course not." Judai's field magic card slot opened and he placed a card into it. "I activate the field magic card Neospace!" All around them the City of Shadows collapsed, the buildings dissolving more than being destroyed as the scenery changed to a pulsing rainbow dimension. "This card powers up Neos and all Neos fusion monsters by 500 attack points!" (3400/2000) "Flare Neos attacks Psychic Blood Slasher! Burst Rush!" The space hero fusion was bathed in flames as he roared across the field and crashed into the Final Shadow, burning it away easily.

Ichigo- 2500

Judai- 1350

Flare Neos returned to Judai's field calmly, holding a pose that said it knew that its power would remain. "At the end phase of my turn the effect of Flare Neos that returns him to my fusion deck is negated by Neospace. I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Ichigo shook himself briskly, little wisps of smoke rising from his head. "Wow that hurt!" Then he lifted his head up and drew. "I place one card face-down and end my turn. Now Judai, since you've shown me the power of Neos I'll show you the power of Infinity…" He grinned widely. "It's only fair, after all."

("The power of Infinity? What's that?") Judai drew. "Flare Neos gains 800 attack points for the two extra cards on the field." (4200/2000) "Flare Neos, attack his life points directly! Burst Rush!" The fusion hero exploded into flames and charged straight at Ichigo.

"Reverse card open!" Ichigo's set card flipped up and a powerful orange explosion blinded both Judai and Flare Neos. When the afterimage burned into their retinas disappeared, it revealed a dark blue humanoid robot standing on Ichigo's field. "This is what I was talking about. Its name is Final Shadow Infinity Chaser!" (2000/1000) Infinity Chaser made a loud metallic screeching noise and punched its fists together.

"But how did it get into play?" Judai sounded a bit confused. "Was it your trap card?"

"That's right." Ichigo held up the trap he had set. "It's called Big Bang Appearance. When you attack me directly I can special summon one monster with Infinity in its title to my field and end the battle phase." Inserting the used card into his graveyard, he laughed happily. "Sorry about that Judai, but I can't let you beat me that easily."

"Heh, don't worry about it. Now I'm curious about what this Infinity power you were talking about is." Judai double-checked the cards in his hand before nodding to Ichigo. "End turn."

("Up to this point I was controlling the duel until Neos showed up.") Ichigo knew that the power of Neos was similar to Infinity Chaser. ("If you want to use Contact Fusion…") He left that thought alone and drew, smiling at what he saw. "I activate the magic card Pot of Greed, drawing two cards from my deck."

Judai blinked at the warm look on Ichigo's face when he drew those two cards. ("What did he draw?")

"Let's do it Erian!" Ichigo threw a card onto his disk and a humanoid made of prismatic light appeared on his field. "I summon Infinity Traveler Null Entity in attack mode!" (100/200)

"Infinity Traveler…" Judai looked at the two monsters on Ichigo's field…and quickly figured it out. "You mean…"

"That's right!" Ichigo pointed up into the space above him, copying Judai's earlier action. "Contact Fusion!" The two monsters flew high up into the sky and disappeared. Moments later a grey-colored version of Infinity Chaser lowered into play, heavy plates of armor all over its body. "Final Shadow Negation Chaser is special summoned in attack mode!" (2000/1000)

"That awesome!" Judai grinned widely as the two Contact Fused monsters faced off. "But Flare Neos is still a lot stronger."

"For now, but that's about to change!" Ichigo's field magic card slot opened. "Here we go; I activate the field magic card Infinite Castle!" Neospace faded away, leaving the two of them standing with a giant dark blue crystal castle in the background. "This field card doubles the original attack of all Infinity named monsters in play!" (4000/1000)

"It's even stronger than Flare Neos now!" Judai sounded more excited than afraid. "But my set card might be a trap. If you attack and it winds up destroying Negation Chaser then you're out of luck."

"You're right…" Ichigo sounded just as excited, making them seem very similar. "Except I activate Negation Chaser's ability! Negation Core!" Negation Chaser pulled its chest plates open, releasing a blast of grey light that hit Judai's set card and turned it black and white. "Once per turn Negation Chaser can negate one card in play for the turn. Therefore even if you activate your trap card it won't work!"

Judai grew a huge grin. "That really is amazing…" (Flare Neos: 3300/2000)

"Thanks, but here it comes! Negation Chaser attacks Flare Neos!" Ichigo pointed at the Elemental Hero and his Final Shadow charged at it, spinning in place with one leg stretched out in front of it. "Axle Kick!"

"Like I said before, bring it!" Judai pointed at Negation Chaser. "Flare Neos, Burst Rush!" His superhero lit up with its aura of flames and charged at the Infinity monster, the two colliding violently and creating a powerful explosion that seemed to shake the whole island. Then Flare Neos bellowed in pain and shattered, blowing Judai's hair back with the aftershock of its destruction.

Ichigo- 2500

Judai- 650

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_At the Osiris Red dorm…_

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From inside the small room that served as a cafeteria to the hungry students of the Osiris Red dorm, everyone seemed a little shaken up by the explosion they had heard from somewhere nearby.

"What was that?" The door to the cafeteria opened and a yellow-uniformed boy with a head of aquamarinish hair stepped outside, expecting to see a duel going on. Instead he was surprised to see the field in front of the dorm completely empty. "Where'd the sound come from then?"

"Marufuji-sempai, if you aren't going to eat your ebi fry then I'll just help myself-saurus." The clattering of plates came from inside the cafeteria when there was no response. "Marufuji-sempai?"

Sho wasn't listening, his eyes looking out towards the forest near the dorm worriedly. "Kenzan-kun, didn't Aniki go out into the forest a little while ago?"

"Yeah, I think so-saurus." A dreadlocked head of black hair poked out of the doorway with a piece of fried shrimp hanging from its mouth, speaking around it. "Why?"

"We'd better go check it out, come on!" Sho rushed off towards the forest, leaving Tyranno Kenzan to hurriedly eat both his and his sempai's lunches before following.

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As the smoke cleared from the clash between the two warriors, Negation Chaser floated back to its master's field and crouched, body condensing as it seemed to go into a kind of sit mode. Ichigo rubbed his index finger under his nose arrogantly, though the smile on his face said that he was just teasing. "How about that, Judai? Scared yet?"

"A little…" The Hero duelist brushed some of his hair out of his eyes. "Your monsters are really amazing. It's like fighting an evolved version of my deck…" He was sharing a similar playful smile. "Maybe you're just trying to copy me?"

Ichigo stuck his tongue out childishly, making the sunglasses he was wearing seem kind of stupid. "_Just because cards are similar doesn't mean that they're not really different too, bleah!"_

Judai sweatdropped, having trouble understanding what Ichigo had said because the other boy had said it in English, not Japanese. "Well whatever, this duel isn't over yet!" Judai grabbed the top card of his deck. "I'll come at you with my all, and we'll see just what is stronger. Will it be Neos or will it be Infinity?"

"Hey now, I think we just determined that Infinity was stronger." Ichigo pointed at his crouching machine monster. "After all, who is still standing in play after battle?"

"That was just round one." Judai drew. "The Elemental Heroes and Neospacians aren't down for the count just yet, Ichigo!"

_To be continued…_

Note: Any topics concerning SGS should be posted in The Infinity Chronicles forum (In the Yugioh GX section of the forums under my name) with the letters "SGS" just before the title of the thread. Because this site doesn't let me put multiple forums under one category, this will be the way it works for now.


	2. Clash of Space Part 2

Disclaimer: As per usual, I still don't own Yugioh GX. Perhaps one day that will change, but until then I'll just keep writing.

Shifting Generations Saga

Chapter 2: Clash of Spaces (Part 2)

Ichigo- 2500

Judai- 650

Judai looked down at his deck, a worried expression on his face. ("Up to this point I've tried my hardest to gain some kind of advantage, but right now Ichigo has a 4000 attack point monster in play that can negate one card on my field once per turn.") Since it hadn't left the field at the end phase of the turn it meant that either Infinite Castle was doing something that kept it in play or unlike his Contact Fusions it didn't leave play at the end of the controller's turn.

"What's the matter?" Ichigo, since his hands were free, crossed his arms across his chest proudly. "Is Negation Chaser's power that much stronger compared to the power of Neos?"

That statement brought a slightly frustrated noise from Judai's throat. Then he looked off to the side at the giant dark blue crystal castle in the background. ("He's so confident because he has that field magic card in play. If I can't get rid of it then there's no way I can win.") His right hand inched forwards and touched the top card of his deck. "It's my turn, draw!"

One look at the card told him that this duel wasn't over yet. ("It's the card Hayato gave me!") Judai's field magic card slot slid open and he placed the card into it. "I activate Skyscraper II-Hero City!"

"Skyscraper II?" Ichigo's eyes widened in fear as Infinity Castle exploded, replaced by giant futuristic buildings that quickly came together and left the two of them standing in the middle of the plaza of a future city.

The Hero Duelist nodded, his grin having returned. "Skyscraper II can, once per turn, let me special summon an Elemental Hero that has been destroyed as a result of battle from my graveyard regardless of its summoning requirements!" A blast of rainbow light erupted from his graveyard slot and shot high into the sky. "Flare Neos is revived!" The insect-hero fusion formed out of the rainbow blast, its carapace wings spread. (2500/2000)

Ichigo leaned back just a little, teeth clenched and eyes wide. ("Uh-oh…")

Judai smiled and pointed at his returned monster. "For every magic and trap card in play Flare Neos gains 400 attack points!" (3300/2000) "Also because your Infinite Castle is gone Negation Chaser's attack power lowers to its original 2000!" (2000/1000) "Battle! Elemental Hero Flare Neos, Burst Rush!" Then his fusion hero lit up with an aura of fire and charged forward, crashing into the opposing fusion and destroying it.

Ichigo- 1200

Judai- 650

Ichigo braced himself against the flames that licked at his uniform. ("As to be expected of Yuki Judai…") He knew that it wasn't going to be as easy as he wished it would be.

"I summon Dandelion in defense mode." A creature that was a cartoony mix of sunflower and lion appeared on Judai's field, its little leafy arms in front of it protectively. "End turn." Flare Neos faded away, returned to his deck because of its effect. "What'll you do now, Ichigo? It seems the scores are even, Neos and Infinity have beaten each other one time."

"Draw." Ichigo had no cards except the one he was drawing, so it had to be good or else any chances of him recovering in this duel would disappear. Flipping it over, he grinned. "I summon Infinity Traveler Forward Runner in defense mode!" A humanoid made of smooth flowing liquid metal appeared on his field in a crouching position, a ticking noise coming from it. (500/400)

"Another Infinity Traveler?" Judai grinned. "Interesting, what's it do?"

"Forward Runner, when summoned, lets me declare a number from zero to five. I declare five." Ichigo grabbed five cards off of his deck. "I draw five cards. However the downside to this effect is that I have to skip my next five draw phases."

However the tone he used when telling the downside didn't match how one would normally feel about such a painful side-effect. "I activate the magic card Magic Purge." A blast of soft white light filled their surroundings momentarily. "This card clears all floating effects from the field. That means that the floating effect which prevents me from drawing for the next five draw phases disappears."

"So you got to draw four cards for free along with your summon?" Judai smiled. "Impressive…"

"Thanks," Ichigo slid two cards into his disk, their representations shimmering into existence on the field behind his Infinity Traveler. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's back to me, draw!" Judai flicked the drawn card into his other hand after pulling it off his deck, still smiling at how quickly Ichigo had recovered from having no cards to suddenly having five. "At this time I activate the effect of Skyscraper II, returning one Elemental Hero that has been destroyed as a result of battle to the field!" A blast of light erupted from his graveyard slot and Mudballman appeared in play in a crouching position. (1900/3000)

Then his two monsters were swallowed up within swirling blasts of wind as they faded away. "I sacrifice Mudballman and Dandelion to summon Elemental Hero Edgeman in attack mode!" A gold sharp-armored superhero appeared on his field roaring out a battle cry. (2600/1800)

As the two sacrifices slid into Judai's graveyard the slot started to glow. "When Dandelion is sent to the graveyard it special summons two Fluffy Tokens to my field in defense mode!" A pair of puffballs with faces appeared on his field. (0/0)x2

"Edgeman attacks Forward Runner, Power Edge Attack!" The superhero bellowed and charged at the defending alien angrily.

"Reverse card open!" Ichigo's set card flipped open and a glowing barrier of prismatic light appeared between their fields. Edgeman slammed into it and bounced back to Judai's field, no longer willing to attack. "Negation Blockade is a trap that lets me stop your attack and end the battle phase. Plus it allows me to add one Infinity Traveler Null Entity from my deck to my hand." He held up the card that had been removed from his deck and added it to the other two cards in his hand.

("That's the monster he used with Infinity Chaser to create Negation Chaser…") Judai nodded to his opponent. "End turn."

Ichigo grabbed the top card of his deck and added it to his hand. "I activate the magic card Pot of Magic." A magic card with a picture of a mustached jar appeared on his field. "This card lets me select three magic cards from my graveyard and shuffle them back into my deck." The three cards he held up were Pot of Greed, Infinite Castle, and City of Shadows, all of which he shuffled back into his deck. "Afterwards I draw one card."

Another magic card appeared on his field, this one having a picture of a grinning jar with jewels for teeth. "I activate the magic card Pot of Avarice, selecting five monsters from my graveyard and shuffling them back into my deck. Afterwards I draw two cards." He did so swiftly, hoping that he could draw something that would either buy him time or stop Edgeman from finishing him next turn.

He nodded at the cards and held one of them up. "I activate Pot of Greed, drawing two cards." After adding two cards to his hand he held up another magic card. "Research on the Pot of Greed's effect is different depending on whether Pot of Greed has been activated in the same turn as it. If it has then I draw two cards instead of one." An extra two cards entered his hand, leaving him with seven.

"And now to bring down Edgeman!" Ichigo threw a card onto his disk and a humanoid made of fire appeared on his field in a blaze of energy. "I summon Infinity Traveler Inferno Brawler in attack mode!" (0/100)

"Its attack is zero…" Judai rubbed the back of his head. "How will that bring down Edgeman?"

"Because Inferno Brawler's original attack and defense is increased by 1000 for every monster you have in play." (3000/100)

"Well that would do it," Judai muttered worriedly as the powered-up flame alien charged at Edgeman. "However I'm not beaten either! Reverse card open, Hero Barrier!" A crackling wall of energy appeared between his superhero and the opposing monster, preventing them from clashing. "This card can only be activated when there is an Elemental Hero on my field. One attack is negated!"

("I didn't think it was going to be that easy. Plus I was certain that card was a trap, but I'm glad to see it wasn't a serious one.") A card shimmered face-down onto his field next to his older one. "I place one card face-down and end my turn. You're up, Judai."

The Hero duelist nodded and drew. After looking at the card he had drawn he added it to his hand and flipped over one of his other cards. "I activate the magic card Hope of Fifth." His graveyard slot whined and emptied out Mudballman, Bubbleman, Clayman, Necro Darkman, and a Featherman he discarded earlier. "I select five Elemental Heroes in my graveyard and shuffle them into my deck." He returned the fusion to the fusion deck and then shuffled the other four into their new home. "When that completes I draw three cards."

His two Fluffy tokens blurred out and faded away, a blast of rainbow light shooting into the sky. "I sacrifice my tokens to bring Elemental Hero Neos back to play!" The space-faring hero lowered itself into play from the sky, flexing its muscles as it landed alongside Edgeman. (2500/2000)

Ichigo already knew why Judai had done that, it was obvious just by looking at his Inferno Brawler. (2000/100)

"Elemental Hero Edgeman, attack Forward Runner! Power Edge Attack!" Judai punched in the direction of the crouching Infinity Traveler and his gold-armored superhero roared through it, cutting the monster to pieces with its elbow blades.

"From my hand," Ichigo held up the Null Entity card he had searched for earlier. "I discard Null Entity to the graveyard to make the battle damage to my life points from that attack zero!" A prismatic sheath of light appeared around him, protecting him from a blow that would have ended the game.

"Neos attacks Inferno Brawler, Lance of Neos!" Judai didn't slow down at all, not showing any disappointment at having been unable to end the duel right there. ("This guy's too strong to defeat through most usual methods. I'll just have to be extra careful against him.") While he thought this Neos punched through the flaming alien and blew it to cinders.

Ichigo- 700

Judai- 650

"Reverse card open." One of Ichigo's set cards flipped up. "Shadow Future activates at the end of a battle phase in which any number of my monsters were destroyed as a result of battle. I may shuffle any number of cards from my hand back into my deck. For every card I shuffle back in I may return one of those destroyed monsters back to my field." He shuffled two cards back into his deck and his two lost Infinity Travelers shimmered back into play in crouching positions.

"And that means…" Judai grimaced as he watched Forward Runner start to make that ticking noise again.

"That's right." Ichigo drew five cards from his deck. "Now I skip my next five draw phases. Is your turn done?"

"Not yet." Judai slid a card into his disk and it appeared face-down behind his two strongest non-fusion heroes. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn." Ichigo grasped a card from his hand and placed it face-up in a horizontal position on his disk. "I summon Star Shadow Penguin in defense mode." A penguin made of dark blue crystal appeared on his field alongside his Infinity Travelers. (600/600)

Judai sweat-dropped at the cute creature, surprised to see something like that in Ichigo's deck. "What does it do?"

"It allows me to discard a monster card from my hand to activate the effect of a normal magic card in my graveyard, after which that magic card is removed from the game." Ichigo held up a monster. "I discard Catnapped Kitty from my hand to the graveyard to activate the effect of Magic Purge!" Another blast of soft white light filled the area momentarily as the floating effect of Forward Runner was removed.

"So you got another four cards for free…" Judai couldn't hide the wonderment in his voice. "Why are you a member of Osiris Red if you're such a good duelist?"

"I could ask you the same question." Ichigo opened his field magic card slot. "Infinite Castle makes its return!" Skyscraper II faded away and was replaced by the towering dark blue crystal castle in the background. "As you remember the original attack of all Infinity named monsters on my field is doubled."

Inferno Brawler stood up, its body now a blazing white. (4000/100) "Battle! Inferno Brawler attacks Elemental Hero Edgeman!" The alien moved forwards, its body glowing brightly as it cocked back its fist to strike.

"Reverse card open!" Judai's set card opened and a swirling vortex of energy appeared in front of Edgeman, sucking the momentum out of Inferno Brawler's attack and bringing it to a stop. "Negate Attack allows me to stop one of my opponent's attacks and end the battle phase. Luckily, this means I evade losing to your Inferno Brawler."

Ichigo scoffed and slid a card into his disk. "Did you make that last statement for your own sake or just to rub it in? I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw!" Judai held up a magic card, which released a glow around his body. "I activate the magic card Neos Charge. By sending one Neospacian from my deck to the graveyard I can gain that monster's attack in life." He held up Neospacian Black Panther, which had an attack of 1000.

Ichigo- 700

Judai- 1650

"I summon Neospacian Glow Moss!" (300/900) A being made of faint green light appeared on Judai's field alongside Neos. "Contact Fusion!" The two monsters launched up into the crystal sky and a version of Neos that had a body made of that same faint green light lowered into play. "Elemental Hero Glow Neos is special summoned!" (2500/2000)

"Another Contact Fusion…" Ichigo growled in a way that made him momentarily seem like an animal trapped in a corner.

"Glow Neos may, once per turn, destroy a face-up card in play. Depending on what that card is will decide its effect!" Judai pointed at Ichigo's duel disk. "My target is Infinite Castle! Signal Buster; Blue Lightning!" Glow Neos charged up a ball of lightning in its hands and hurled it at Ichigo, the blast exploding against him and forcing his disk to spit out Infinite Castle. "During this turn Glow Neos can attack directly! Lightning Strike!" The superhero charged up a lance of lightning in its grasp and hurled it across the field at Ichigo.

"Reverse card open!" Ichigo disappeared behind a series of floating rocks that formed in the way of the attack, easily blocking the attack. "Asteroid Belt activates when you attack me directly! I can negate that attack and for every monster on your field you take 500 points of damage!" Two huge rocks flew across the field and crashed into the ground around Judai, rattling him a bit.

Ichigo- 700

Judai- 650

"Elemental Hero Edgeman!" Judai pointed at the Star Shadow Penguin. "Attack now!" His other superhero launched across the field and reared back its right arm to cut the cute little crystal creature in half.

"Trap card open!" Ichigo's other set card flipped up and a barrier of green light appeared between the two monsters, blocking Edgeman's attack and then releasing a healthy glow around the boy's body. "The power of Draining Shield negates your attack and gives me life point gain equal to the attack of your monster!"

Ichigo- 3300

Judai- 650

"So I couldn't beat you this turn?" Judai looked over at Glow Neos sadly, and then he inserted a card into his disk. "Sorry about this Glow Neos. I activate the quickplay magic card Mystic Wok!" Glow Neos dissolved, the particles it turned into hovering around Judai's body gently. "I sacrifice a monster on my field and gain either its attack or defense in life."

Ichigo- 3300

Judai- 3150

"I set one card face-down and end my turn." Now that there finally wasn't a field magic card in place Judai saw that it was getting darker outside. "At this rate we're going to miss dinner too…" He smiled happily. "But this duel is just too good for me to care. Dueling at my full strength against an opponent that doesn't back down or lose heart…it's something I've missed. Ichigo Pilkington, you're an amazing guy. I'm surprised I haven't noticed you up until now."

"Yeah, I'm underestimated a lot…" Ichigo knew that was a cryptic answer, but the truth would probably make even less sense. "Are you ready, because now it's my turn! Draw!" His eyes widened at the drawn card and then he couldn't help but smile. "Yuki Judai, I hope you're ready."

"Of course!" Judai was grinning from ear to ear; far happier than he thought would be possible today. "Hit me with your best shot!"

"Yes sir." Ichigo slid a card into his disk. "I activate the magic card Silent Prayers, special summoning one effect monster from my graveyard to my field in defense mode!" A card slid out of his graveyard and he threw it onto his disk. "Come out now, Infinity Traveler Micro Mistress!" A female humanoid made of pink light appeared on his field in a crouching position. (300/300)

("And now…") Ichigo started to reach for the card he had drawn. ("We'll win…") His eyes widened as he remembered one of Edgeman's support cards. ("Edge Hammer, a trap that lets him sacrifice Edgeman to destroy the attacking monster and deal its attack in damage to the controller's life points.") If that was what Judai's set card was then there was a better thing he could do.

His Star Shadow Penguin squeaked and turned to face him, spitting a card out of his beak. "I send one monster from my hand to the graveyard to activate Silent Prayers! Its target will be the card I just discarded, Final Shadow God Midnight Romancer!" A sharp wind blew by and suddenly the area around Ichigo's field was bathed in moonlight.

"What's going on?" Judai wondered if maybe Ichigo had activated another field magic card or something.

"_A strange place you bring me into, Ichigo."_ A spotlight appeared around a man wearing a tuxedo, the black cape around his shoulders blowing in the wind as he adjusted his top hat. "_However, you can count on my strength._" (1400/1200) Then he dropped to his knees and put his arms up in front of him.

"Erm…" Judai stared at the new monster, obviously confused. "What was with that dramatic entrance?"

"He does that sometimes." Ichigo snapped his hand up, aiming it at Moonlight Romancer's back. "Gentleman's Aura!" The summoned Final Shadow God released a green glow that wrapped around its owner. "The effect of Moonlight Romancer is that once per turn, at the cost of letting you draw a card, I can gain 3000 life points."

Ichigo- 6300

Judai- 3150

Judai drew, but the look on his face said he didn't like the trade-off. ("At this rate I'm not going to be able to win just because his life points are higher.")

Ichigo removed a card from his graveyard. "I activate the effect of Final Shadow Curse Voodoo, removing it from my graveyard. During this turn all Final Shadow monsters cost one less sacrifice to summon." Micro Mistress started to glow, and Edgeman suddenly shrank to half its normal size. "The effect of Micro Mistress lets me cut the attack of a monster on your field in half once per turn until the end of turn." (1300/1800)

That same Infinity Traveler faded away rapidly, a familiar crouching robot appearing on Ichigo's field. "I sacrifice Micro Mistress to summon Final Shadow Infinity Chaser!" The mighty robot appeared in play with a hulking screech of steel on steel as it stood up. (2000/1000) Forward Runner and Star Shadow Penguin both slid out of their defending positions.

"And now," Ichigo pointed up at the sky. "Contact Fusion!" Infinity Chaser and Inferno Brawler both launched into the air in unison, disappearing into the setting sunset. "Final Shadow Inferno Chaser is special summoned!" An orange and red battle-ready robot appeared on Ichigo's field, steam spraying out of its back. (2000/1000)

"Awesome!" Judai pointed at Inferno Chaser's flame stripes. "It's like some kind of race car!"

Ichigo nodded. "That's right! Inferno Chaser attacks Edgeman!" His fusion launched into the air and then dove diagonally down so that it slammed into the gold-armored hero and blew it apart. "When Inferno Chaser destroys a monster as a result of battle you take that monster's attack in damage!"

Judai's glee disappeared as Inferno Chaser stopped in front of him and crashed one flaming fist into his stomach roughly, blowing the wind out of his lungs.

Ichigo- 6300

Judai- 1150

"Star Shadow Penguin and Forward Runner, direct attack!" Ichigo's other two monsters launched forward together and crashed into the already-wheezing Judai.

Ichigo- 6300

Judai- 50

"End turn!" Ichigo grinned triumphantly. "Unlike your Contact Fusions, mine don't return my fusion monsters to the fusion deck at the end of the turn."

Judai didn't respond, his face pressed into the grass.

"Judai?" Ichigo tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "What are you doing?"

The brown-haired Hero Duelist pushed his hands under him and tried to get up, only to fail as the burning pain from Inferno Chaser's strike crippled him again. ("I can't move…") That blow had felt completely real. It had been real fire that had injured him, and now he was unable to move because of it.

Ichigo's happiness at the fact that he was winning disappeared as the truth of the matter sunk in. In his wish to defeat the one who, depending on the circumstances, might just have been his mentor, he did something that shouldn't have been done. ("I've never summoned any of the Chasers except for Negation and Inferno, and Negation has always been the primary.")

Chaser was the representation of himself, or at least that was his theory. And each of the Infinity Traveler cards were a copy of one of the real Infinity Travelers he knew in real life. ("Null Entity is Erian…who is normally pretty meek and relaxed, if a bit weird.") But Inferno Brawler was the most aggressive of all the Infinity Travelers, Resshin. ("If Resshin was driving Inferno Chaser's fist…") He paled. "Judai!"

--------------------------------

"Judai…" A strong voice called out from somewhere nearby.

The Hero Duelist knew the owner of that voice. "Neos?" His eyes opened and he found himself floating amongst the stars, the form of the space-faring hero in front of him. "What am I doing here?"

"You were knocked unconscious because of the damage you suffered." The superhero bowed his head slightly. "The power of that Inferno Chaser was completely different than the power of the Negation Chaser. It was so angry, so hateful of humans. When it struck you I could feel its pleasure at having harmed you."

"Is that so?" Judai looked kind of worried. "Does that mean Ichigo is a bad guy?"

"No, I do not believe so." Neos glanced backwards. "Inferno Chaser did the damage, not Ichigo. It had its own will."

"That's a relief." Judai's smile returned as the space surrounding him faded away. "Thanks for the warning though, Neos. Now though, it's time to get back to the duel!"

------------------------------

"Judai!" Ichigo shouted again for the twentieth time, tears starting to appear along the edges of his eyes. ("That's it, I'm ending the duel!") He reached for the button that if pressed would indicate his surrender.

"Hang on there," Judai muttered weakly, slowly standing up. "Are you really going to end this duel like that?" His smile returned, even though he looked weary and had dirt on his face.

"B...But…" Ichigo's hands were trembling and he suddenly dropped to his knees, slamming his forehead into the ground with incredible force. "I'm very sorry!"

"Apology accepted." Judai didn't sound angry at all. "Now stand up, Ichigo Pilkington. This duel is pushing me to my limits. Don't apologize just because you overwhelmed me. Now let's have fun."

Ichigo stood up and nodded with a shaky smile on his face. ("Even now, you're comforting me when I make mistakes…Judai-sensei.") Adjusting his sunglasses, the shakiness in his smile completely vanished. "Can you win?"

"I can because I'm not leaving it to chance, not against an opponent like you! Reverse card open!" Judai's set card flipped up. "Hero Call lets me select one card from my deck and make it the top card." He already had the card in mind, putting it atop his deck and drawing.

A magic card appeared on his field. "I activate Monster Reincarnation, discarding the card I searched for to add one monster from my graveyard to my hand! And that card is Neospacian Air Hummingbird!" The red-feathered bird-human appeared on his field, flapping its wings. (800/600)

"So you want to gain 500 life points?" Ichigo nodded. "Alright, that's…"

"Hang on there." Judai held up a hand jerkily, before his opponent got the wrong idea. "I don't want any life points."

"…you don't?" Ichigo blinked at Air Hummingbird. "Then why?"

"From my graveyard," Judai held up four cards. "I remove Heat Heart, Emergency Call, the Right Justice I just discarded, and Oversoul from the game!" The four cards disappeared and the card in his hand appeared in play. "HERO Flash activates now, special summoning one normal Elemental Hero from my deck to the field!"

"One normal Elemental Hero…" Ichigo gasped as Neos appeared in play again. "You mean…you're going to…"

"Contact Fusion!" Judai pointed up at the sky and his two monsters shot up into the deepening darkness. A few moments later a pair of white-feathered wings spread out across the wine-colored sky. "Elemental Hero Air Neos is summoned!" The bird-like fusion of the two monsters lowered into play silently, arms at its sides. (2500/2000)

"But what can it do?" Ichigo held up his life point counter. "I've got 6300 life points, so no matter what kind of ability…"

Judai was still grinning. "All those life points are about to be the end of you. Air Neos' effect activates now!" The superhero started to glow. "When your life points are higher than my own the difference is added to this card's attack power!" (8750/2000)

Ichigo wanted to feel upset, but he couldn't. It wasn't because he felt guilty about Inferno Chaser's attack either, but because of the fact that what he had suspected was true. This opponent, without a doubt, was his mentor Yuki Judai. ("He's so young though…so I'm in the past huh?") Time travel was a new thing for him, so he knew that this would be an interesting experience. "Bring it on, Neos."

"Lance of Air Neos!" Judai's fusion dove through Inferno Chaser, shattering it and slashing Ichigo with enough residual force to hurl him out of the clearing.

Ichigo- 0

Judai- 50

Ichigo's head emerged from a bush, leaves sticking out of his unkempt mass of chestnut-brown fluff. "That was great!" The grin on his face said that he held absolutely no hard feelings about the duel at all.

Judai struck his customary victory pose and saluted with the two primary fingers of his right hand. "Gotcha! It was…"

"A fun duel!" Ichigo finished for him, mimicking his action. He had seen it hundreds of times before.

The two of them started laughing cheerily at the same time just as the sound of approaching feet could be heard.

----------------------

The beating of a heart could be heard somewhere within the abyss. "What of the one we seek? Your attempt to capture him failed completely. How will you make up for that mistake, Sparrow?"

"My deepest apologies, Lord Beast!" A less deep voice yelled throughout the darkness, a man wearing a black suit and black metal mask appearing within view, a yellow ribbon blowing from his neck. "I will rectify the problem!" Then he disappeared just as silently as he arrived, not leaving a trace of his passing on the black marble floor.

-------------------------

Kenzan, Sho, Judai and Ichigo were all walking on the road towards the Osiris Red dorm, the first two listening to the last two recounting their duel play for play.

"Wow, so you have monsters just like Aniki's?" Sho looked away and muttered something about copycats.

Ichigo growled under his breath, having heard that thanks to his sensitive hearing but deciding that making it known he heard it would be bad. ("Best to try and not make them that suspicious of me.")

"So you just transferred here, huh?" Kenzan thought about asking Ichigo why he was wearing sunglasses when it was pitch dark outside, but decided against it. "What room are you staying in?"

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head nervously, laughing. "Well I really wasn't assigned a room just yet."

"That's cool; you can use the extra bunks in my room." Judai patted Ichigo on the back. "It'll be alright, I promise!"

("You say that now…") Ichigo had a bad feeling that he wasn't going to be heading to his own time for a while now. ("Oh well, I'll just have to find my own way. After all, if I can't even do that much then what kind of guy would I be?")

_To be continued…_

_In the next chapter the mysterious Sparrow arrives at Duel Academy, while Ichigo attempts to adjust to the fact that if he messes up the past he'll wind up changing the future…that and keeping the fact he isn't entirely human a secret too._

_Next chapter: Living in the Literal Past_


	3. Living in the Literal Past

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh GX. I do own Ichigo and some of the stuff, but not the canon guys.

Shifting Generations Saga

Chapter 3: Living in the Literal Past

"So apparently I'm in the past…though how it happened I'm not sure…" Ichigo sighed loudly and splashed the bathwater around him with his fingers. "That stupid tree that walked into me must have been some kind of evil time-shifting tree…don't you agree?"

He appeared to be alone in the Osiris Red bath, which made it seem rather strange since it seemed like he was talking to himself.

Running his hands through the fur of his tail, the boy wondered how much longer he was going to have to keep the fact he was a half demon a secret. Last night had been annoying enough, with his constant attempts to divert the attention of those three away from the fact that he was hiding his eyes. "Am I every going to get home?" His hazel eyes turned to look at what he was having this conversation with.

It was a plastic cow about the size of a baseball. Picking it up, he squeezed it and grinned at the squeaking noise it made. "It always makes me feel better when I talk to you, Bess."

-----------------------------

Judai sat back against the wall next to his bed and looked out the window quietly. ("Now that I think about it, Ichigo's Inferno Chaser still worries me.") Even though he questioned the other boy about it, Ichigo wouldn't reveal too much about those Infinity monsters of his beyond the fact that they were aliens.

The other thing that worried him was what had happened when he had tried to see under Ichigo's sunglasses. It had been rather scary how quickly the other boy had stopped his hand. ("That guy is hiding something.") It wasn't that he didn't trust Ichigo implicitly, if just because after dueling him Judai was one hundred percent sure Ichigo was a nice guy. "Is he really who he says he is though?"

-----------------------------

Ichigo, now freshly clean, walked through the forest outside the Osiris Red dorm with a slight smile on his face. "Well this place certainly does remind me of my own Duel Academy." Up above him the sun was bright and he felt like lying down in the grass again, but he had just cleaned himself off so staining his hair with grass probably was a bad idea.

"I'm glad to hear that." A voice called from a nearby clearing. "If you value your life however you will step into this clearing right now." Standing in the middle of it was a man wearing a tight black body-suit and black metal helmet which hid his face. In fact the only thing that he was wearing which had real color to it was a yellow ribbon around his neck.

Ichigo's happy-go-lucky smile faded and he stepped out of immediate sight, entering the clearing. "And you are?"

"My name is Sparrow." The man pointed at the half demon. "Ichigo Pilkington, you will come with me right now."

"And if I refuse?" Ichigo asked, his hands in his pockets since he brandishing his claws would probably be taken as an immediate sign of aggression.

"That would not be wise." Sparrow lowered his hand and lifted up his other arm, which had a pitch black Duel Disk on it.

Ichigo didn't have his Duel Disk with him, but it didn't look like that was going to stop the man from starting a duel. ("If it's Darkness Game then I'll be in trouble.") His hand reached into his black undershirt for something…

"It seems that you enjoy picking on new students." A voice called out, echoing across the clearing.

Body relaxing, Sparrow looked around to find the source of the voice. "And just who might you be?"

"Me?" A form nearly as black-saturated as the man stepped out from behind a tree. "I am the champion of Genex, the man which stands above all others at this academy." A head of spiky-ish black hair sat atop a pale-skinned head, a black trenchcoat blowing in a wind that wasn't there. "If you insist on picking on this new student, who just arrived here today, then you have no choice but to battle me first…Manjyome Thunder!" At that last part he thumbed at his chest while somewhere in the background thunder crashed.

Ichigo stared at this new guy for a couple of seconds before rubbing his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly. ("He looks like Adriel almost…how creepy…") "Ummm, if you just give me your Duel Disk then I'll be glad to duel him on my own…" He realized that this guy, despite being at least a year younger than him, was supposed to be his sempai. "…Manjyome-sempai?"

"Don't worry about that, new student." Manjyome stepped forward and lifted up his own Duel Disk, activating it. "Considering you just arrived I'm sure you are tired. Also I heard that you lost to Judai yesterday, so allow me to deal with this pest for you. After all, as your sempai I must be sure to protect the interests of those who may become my subordinates."

"Are you sure you're not just wanting to take what looks like a good duel all for yourself?" Ichigo muttered indignantly. "Manjyome-sempai." He spoke the last part with a little bit of contempt in his voice.

This brought laughter from the black-haired boy's mouth. "Don't be silly, just go have a seat and observe as I defeat this interloper with my masterful skill."

"…" Sweat-dropping, the half demon trudged over to a tree and sat down in front of it. ("So that's it…he's showing off to me because Judai must have gushed about how close our duel was. This guy wants to make sure I understand his skill.") He shrugged, since he honestly didn't care. However he got this kind of attention back at his Duel Academy too from Adriel, so this Manjyome guy was like having some kind of stand-in for his rival.

"It seems I have to clear away a bug before I move onto the actual target. Very well. Duel." Sparrow held up his black Duel Disk, the device humming to life and the green display jewel in the center beginning to pulse. "I will start, draw." He pulled the top card off of his deck and added it to his hand, his masked face betraying no emotion whatsoever. ("Against such a fool I need to be careful not to unleash my full strength. If I hit him too hard then I'll scare away the target.")

"I, Manjyome Jun, will defeat you Sparrow!" The Adriel-look-alike didn't seem worried, despite the fact that his opponent was obviously skilled.

Sparrow- 4000

Manjyome- 4000

"I activate Graceful Charity." Sparrow drew three cards from his deck and inserted two cards from his hand into his graveyard slot slowly. "And now I summon Tengu Shadow Captain in defense mode." A humanoid raven wearing heavy samurai armor appeared on his field in a crouching position. (1200/800)

"Tengu Shadow…" Ichigo stared at the newly summoned monster with worry. ("So it's a Soul Shadow deck?") His eyes turned to look at Manjyome. ("I hope this guy is as good as he brags, or else this duel will end rather quickly.")

Sparrow inserted a card into his disk, it appearing face-down behind his monster. "I set one card face-down. At the end phase of my turn the effect of Tengu Shadow Captain lets me special summon a level four or lower Tengu Shadow from my hand to the field!" He slapped a card onto the disk space next to his Captain, a humanoid raven pulling a cart appearing in play next to the first monster. "So I'll summon Tengu Shadow Supplier in defense mode. End turn." (400/1500)

"Draw!" Manjyome looked at the cards in his hand and then tilted his head up to look at the number of monsters on his opponent's field. ("His deck seems engineered around deploying a large number of weak monsters at once. A very good tactic…") His lips curled into a wicked smile. ("Against an ordinary duelist, anyway.") "I summon White Knight's Guardna in defense mode." A white-armored knight appeared on his field, bringing its heavy shield-covered arms in front of it defensively. (800/2000) "Also I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Sparrow was a little perturbed that his opponent hadn't attacked. ("Even though I didn't expect much of a boy, I would have at least thought you would have attacked.") His hand calmly pulled the top card off of his deck and he added it to his grasp.

"Reverse card open! Ojama Trio!" Manjyome's set card flipped up and a trio of strange little creatures appeared on Sparrow's field. "Ojama Trio special summons three Ojama Tokens to your field in defense mode!" (0/1000)x3

"_Hello!_" The three creatures, one black, one green, and one yellow all cheered in unison towards their new 'owner'.

"How irritating…" Sparrow rolled his shoulders at this development though. "End turn."

"Draw!" Manjyome already had him locked down. ("Your rush strategy is good, but without the necessary monster spaces you can't do anything except wait for me to defeat you!") "I summon White Knight's Swordsman in attack mode!" (1200/0) A white knight holding a sword appeared on his field alongside his Guardna. "White Knight's Swordsman, attack Tengu Shadow Captain now!" His monster yelled out a battle cry and leapt across the field, slashing the bird-like humanoid in half before returning to his field.

"Trap card open." Sparrow's set card flipped up and a storm of black feathers rose up around his now-empty remaining monster zone. "Tengu Signal activates when a monster of mine is destroyed as a result of battle and sent to the graveyard. From my deck or hand I can special summon a level four or lower Tengu Shadow to the field!" A raven humanoid wearing tight black clothing appeared on his field in a crouching position. "I summon Tengu Shadow Assassin in defense mode." (1000/1000) "When this monster is summoned I may destroy one monster in play with an attack equal to or less than it own."

Manjyome gasped as his White Knight's Guardna shattered. "End turn."

Sparrow drew, added the card to his hand, and nodded to Manjyome. "End turn."

"So with just one card I've apparently locked you down." Manjyome drew. "With your rush strategy useless you see to be more than a little beaten. All I have to do now is draw the necessary card to defeat you." He pointed at the Tengu Shadow Assassin. "White Knight's Swordsman attacks your monster!"

Sparrow didn't even pay his monster's destruction any mind, drawing quickly. "It seems that your abilities only revolve around annoying me."

"What was that?" Manjyome growled out. "Do you know you're talking to?"

"No." Sparrow held up a magic card. "The real question is if you know who you're talking to. I activate the magic card Tenraikyoka Azukari, drawing four cards."

"Four cards?" Manjyome and Ichigo both yelled out in surprise. "With no downsides?"

"There are things in this world that children such as yourselves could never understand." Sparrow added four cards from his deck to his hand. "And now I sacrifice Tengu Shadow Supplier to summon Tengu Shadow Advisor." The humanoid raven disappeared and was replaced by a humanoid raven wearing purples robes, stroking its claws through its long beard. (2300/1200) "Advisor, when summoned, lets me return any number of monsters on my field to their owner's hand. For every monster returned I gain 1000 life points."

"That would mean…" Manjyome's growl of anger grew deeper as the three Ojama Tokens disappeared in little bursts of smoke. "When a token would be returned like you're trying to do it is destroyed instead, and when Ojama Tokens are destroyed you take 300 points of damage!"

"And I gain 3000, so I gain 2100 instead." Sparrow's body started to glow as his Advisor healed him.

Sparrow- 6100

Manjyome- 4000

"Tengu Shadow Advisor attacks White Knight's Swordsman! Raven Claw!" Sparrow's monster launched across the field and cut the knight in half easily. "I place two cards face-down and end my turn." A pair of cards appeared behind his advisor. "I suggest you step down and let me deal with Ichigo. This shouldn't concern you."

Sparrow- 6100

Manjyome- 2700

Through the grit of his teeth Manjyome smiled coldly. "When it involves a member of this Academy I will make myself involved!" He drew.

Ichigo slid down into a cross-legged position and sighed. ("I wonder if I should tell this Manjyome guy to get lost. He's getting involved in a duel against a Soul Shadow user, which means that I doubt he's going to win.") Soul Shadow decks were a powerful version of a Soul Deck. He had one, as did a couple of other people he knew. ("And against someone who has a normal deck, the difference is astonishing…")

Manjyome slid a card into his disk and a magic card appeared on his field. "I activate the continuous magic card Frontline Base. While this card is in play once per turn I can special summon a level four or lower union monster from my hand to the field!" He threw a card onto his disk and a beetle-like machine with pincers appeared in play under his control. "I special summon Beetron 2 Kuwagaturbo!" (1500/1800)

Another machine insect appeared on his field, this one looking like a Kabuto beetle. "I normal summon Beetron 1 Kabutops!" (1700/1500) A magic card appeared on his field alongside his two monsters. "I activate the quickplay magic card Quick Summon, normal summoning Beetron 3 Spider Base from my hand to the field!" A spider-like robot appeared on the field next to the other two Beetron monsters. (1000/2000)

"And now the real fun begins!" He pointed up into the air above him. "Fusion!" The three monsters launched up into the air and a combination of all three of the machine monsters floated down onto his field. "Assault Cannon Beetle is special summoned by removing my three Beetron monsters from the game!" (2400/2800)

"Such a monster won't do me very much damage." Sparrow calmly pointed at Manjyome. "For the last time, get out of my way. My business is not with you."

"You'll have to defeat me before you go and pick on a new student of this academy!" The last card in Manjyome's hand was flipped over and his Assault Cannon Beetle launched up into the air, coming back down in a new battle-ready configuration. "I activate the magic card Front Change, exchanging the Assault Cannon Beetle on my field with the Combat Scissors Beetle from my fusion deck!" (3600/1800)

"So you managed to summon a monster with higher attack?" Sparrow didn't sound very impressed, his yellow ribbon blowing in the wind behind him.

"Combat Scissors Beetle attacks Tengu Shadow Advisor!" Manjyome's monster fired off the metallic pincers of its second piece and slashed the opposing monster in half. "When Combat Scissors Beetle destroys a monster as a result of battle you take 1000 points of damage!"

Sparrow- 3800

Manjyome- 2700

"Trap card open." One of Sparrow's set cards flipped up and another circle of black feathers appeared on his field. "Tengu Signal special summons Tengu Shadow Bowman in defense mode." A humanoid raven holding a bow and quiver of arrows appeared on his field in a crouching position. (500/1300) Then he drew and his face-down card flipped up. "I reveal the magic card Phoenix Egg, discarding one card from my hand to special summon a level four or lower winged beast monster from my graveyard to the field!" Another Tengu Shadow Bowman appeared on his field in a crouching position alongside its brethren. (500/1300)

"So now you have two weak monsters instead of one? Color me not impressed…" Manjyome sneered this out, still finding Sparrow's original reaction to him infuriating.

"Then you are a fool." Sparrow placed a card on his disk and a humanoid raven wearing samurai armor appeared on his field. (1700/700) "I summon Tengu Shadow Samurai in attack mode." The feathers of his monster were suddenly dyed a bloody red instead of their normal black sheen. "I also activate the magic card Bloody Feather, discarding one Tengu Shadow from my hand to activate its effect. One Tengu Shadow on my field gains 1500 attack points." (3300/700)

"Even with that boost," Manjyome laughed. "Your monster doesn't have the power to match my Combat Scissors Beetle!"

"I activate this then, another bloody toy." Sparrow held up a magic card and his Samurai drew its katana, the blade a similar bloody red when compared to its feather. "Blood-Soaked Sword powers up the equipped Tengu Shadow by the number of Tengu Shadows in my graveyard by 200 points!" (4700/700) "Tengu Shadow Samurai, attack Combat Scissors Beetle!" His monster launched forward and seemed to pass through the machine like a shadow. A few seconds later Manjyome's monster exploded in a blast of sparks and fire.

Sparrow- 3800

Manjyome- 1600

"Also," Sparrow's other two monsters pulled back their bowstrings. "Tengu Shadow Bowman can attack directly while in defense mode! Fire!" The two monsters unleashed their arrows upon the already stumbling boy, striking him in the chest with a double strike. "End turn."

Sparrow- 3800

Manjyome- 600

Ichigo bit his lower lip. ("It's like I thought…this Manjyome guy is no match for a Soul Shadow deck.") It wasn't a matter of willpower, it was a matter of affinity. ("Sparrow's deck will give him whatever he needs, while Manjyome's deck already seems to rely upon combinations that are far too big. He won't win at this rate.")

"Draw!" Manjyome still seemed cross, but the direct attacks he had just suffered apparently humbled him slightly. "I activate Pot of Greed, drawing two cards." He held up another magic card from the two he had drawn. "Graceful Charity lets me draw three cards and then discard two!"

"No matter what you draw it won't change anything if you cannot defeat my Bowmen." Sparrow didn't sound very pleased with the fact that this Manjyome wouldn't fall already. "I don't have time to deal with no-name weaklings like you. My opponent is to be Ichigo Pilkington."

"Don't be so hasty." Manjyome held up one of the cards he was discarding. "When Ojamagic is discarded from my hand or field to the graveyard I can add Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black from my deck to my hand." He held up the three normal monsters and added them to his hand, putting his card number at five.

"What will adding three useless monsters to your hand do against a duelist such as myself? Can you summon enough of them to protect yourself during the next turn and somehow defeat my direct attackers?" Sparrow pointed at his Samurai. "And while Samurai is in play if you summon a monster in attack mode I will more than likely win anyway."

"It's not over yet, or weren't you listening earlier? If you are supposed to be so elite, then cleanse your eyes and observe the dueling skills of this great super elite Manjyome Jun!" He held up a magic card. "Mallet of Luck lets me shuffle any number of cards from my hand back into my deck!" He shuffled the three Ojamas back into his deck swiftly, drawing three new cards. "And now I summon Armed Dragon LVL 3 in attack mode!" An orange and brown baby dragon appeared on his field. (1200/900) "And from my hand I activate Level Up!"

Armed Dragon LVL 3 grew larger and more powerful, its colors shifting to black and red now as it evolved. "Armed Dragon LVL 5 is special summoned from my deck!" (2400/1700) "I activate the effect of Armed Dragon LVL 5, discarding X-Head Cannon from my hand to destroy a monster in play that has fewer attack points than the discarded monster." One of the two Tengu Shadow Bowmen exploded in a violent blast of power. "Armed Dragon LVL 5 attacks Tengu Shadow Bowman! Armed Buster!" His dragon plowed forward and like a champion boxer it punched the bird-man down instantly.

Sparrow motioned over to his Tengu Shadow Samurai, which while it no longer had its bloody body still had its sword. "Thanks to that, my monster is even stronger!" (3500/700)

"That may be true," Manjyome slid the last card in his hand into his disk and a continuous magic card appeared on his field. "But with this in play you can't do anything with it. I activate Goblin Negotiator. Once per turn I can reduce the battle damage of one of your monster attacks to zero at the cost of letting you draw a card! End turn!"

Sparrow huffed and drew. "So irritating…"

"Hold on there!" Manjyome's Armed Dragon started to glow. "When Armed Dragon LVL 5 destroys a monster as a result of battle at the end phase of my turn Armed Dragon LVL 7 special summons itself!" The monster grew larger and more powerful. (2800/1000)

"Anyway…" Sparrow placed a card on his disk and a humanoid raven wearing European knight armor appeared on his field in a crouching position. "I summon Tengu Shadow Knight in defense mode. While this monster is in face-up in play you have to attack it first before you go after the rest of my monsters." (1000/1700)

His Samurai launched across the field towards Manjyome's Armed Dragon, but it bounced off the barrier created by the effect of Goblin Negotiator. "And now I draw a card. End turn."

"Draw!" Manjyome pointed at the Knight. "Armed Dragon LVL 7 attacks now! Armed Banisher!" His monster brought its claw crashing down and shattered the knight easily. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Ichigo wondered if maybe it wasn't quite over yet. ("That card Manjyome drew must be something good. If it's even as simple as Mystical Space Typhoon then he can destroy the Blood-Soaked Sword when Sparrow attacks.")

Sparrow knew that as well, yet he drew calmly. "With an additional monster in the graveyard my monster powers up even more." (3700/700) ("Now to test if I'm correct.") "I activate the magic card Phoenix Egg, discarding an Advisor to summon a Bowman back to the field!" Another of the bow-wielding Tengu Shadows appeared in play in defense mode. (500/1300) "Direct attack!" The monster strung its weapon and fired a single arrow at the boy.

"Goblin Negotiator activates!" Manjyome's continuous card created a barrier that absorbed the shock of the incoming arrow easily.

Sparrow drew his new card with confidence, knowing exactly what Manjyome's set card was. ("Mystical Space Typhoon would make my attack a waste.") "I go to my main phase two, playing Pot of Greed and drawing two cards." Adding two cards to his hand, he held one of them up and another magic card appeared. This one had a picture of a bizarre white symbol against a black background. "I activate Tenraikyoka Taira!" A white and cold energy started to emit around his body. "For every card in my graveyard, on my field, in my hand, and in my deck I gain 100 life points."

"What?" Both Ichigo and Manjyome yelled again, and immediately found it kind of weird how quickly they were both reacting.

"Such an amusing comedy act." The glow around Sparrow died out as the magic card effect completed.

Sparrow- 8900

Manjyome- 600

"Hmph, so what?" Manjyome still refused to be impressed by such petty cards. "Your ability to gain life points won't make a difference when I've torn down your every monster and every hope!"

"I activate the magic card Arrow Feather Storm." Sparrow pointed at his opponent. "Please send one face-up card on your field to the graveyard. As an additional effect, discard the top two cards of your deck as well."

"My choice is Frontline Base." Manjyome barely flinched as Sparrow's magic card unleashed a spray of arrows that pierced the face-up card and shattered it. He then slid the top two cards of his deck into his graveyard, surprised to see that his next two draws would have been Ojamas.

"End turn." Sparrow crossed his arms across his chest, truly at the limits of his patience with this fool. ("Such an annoying boy, and he doesn't even understand how futile this fight is. With the power of the Tenraikyoka and the Tengu Shadows, such a trashy and random deck has no chance of winning.")

"Draw." Manjyome grabbed his Armed Dragon LVL 7 card off of his disk and slid it into his graveyard. "I send Armed Dragon LVL 7 to the graveyard to summon Armed Dragon LVL 10!" A powerful ultra-evolved version of his already adult dragon appeared in place of its older self. (3000/2000) "Armed Dragon LVL 10 attacks Bowman, Armed Big Banisher!" His new monster powered up a blast of energy that it hurled across the expanse of forest, shattering the Shadow monster easily. "End turn."

(3900/700) "Draw." Sparrow placed the drawn card face-down on his disk. "I set one monster face-down and attack with Samurai!" Even as he said this his monster was already attacking, and already getting blocked by the barrier from Goblin Negotiator. "I draw and end my turn."

"Draw!" Manjyome took one look at his drawn card and then held it up. "I activate the magic card Transaction of Hell. From your graveyard one monster with an attack of 2000 or more is special summoned, while I add one magic card in my graveyard to my hand!" He grabbed Pot of Greed while a Tengu Shadow Advisor appeared on Sparrow's field in defense mode. (2300/1200)

"And now I activate Pot of Greed." Manjyome drew twice and then slid a card into his graveyard. "I discard one card from my hand to activate the effect of Armed Dragon LVL 10, destroying all face-up monsters on your field!" His dragon roared loudly and a powerful blast of energy hit both the Samurai and Advisor, shattering them. "Armed Big Banisher!" The Armed Dragon crashed its claw into the set monster and destroyed it easily. "End turn."

A beeping noise could be heard by Sparrow only, coming from within his helmet. _"Sparrow, what's taking so long? Haven't you captured the target yet?"_

"I will in just a moment." He drew and held up magic card. "I activate Scrounging for Supplies, shuffling any number of cards from my graveyard back into my deck. For every four returned I draw one card afterwards. Holding up twenty four cards, he added them to his deck, shuffled, and then drew six cards. "And now for the finish! I activate the field magic card Battle Roost!" All around them the forest changed to that of a giant bird's nest. "While this card is in play I can special summon a level four or lower Tengu Shadow at any time from my hand to the field at the cost of 1000 life points!"

Another Samurai appeared on his field in a burst of feathers. (1700/700) "And for the effect of my field magic card I summon three Tengu Shadow Pages in defense mode!" A trio of humanoid ravens holding scrolls and quills appeared on his field in crouching positions. (500/1000)x3 "While they are face-up in play with another Tengu Shadow you cannot attack them, and they increase the attack power of all Tengu Shadows in play by 500. Of course they cannot attack though." (3300/700) A Tengu Knight also appeared in play, its body glowing thanks to the power-up from the Pages. (2500/1700)

Sparrow- 4900

Manjyome- 600

A magic card appeared on his field next. "Arrow Feather Storm activates! Please select one face-up card on your field and the top two cards of your deck."

Manjyome had no choice but to send his Goblin Negotiator and the top two cards of his deck to the graveyard. ("This is it…")

"I activate the magic card Tenraikyoka Gekido!" An angry red glow appeared around the Samurai. "This magic card powers up one monster on my field by the attack of all other monsters on my field!" (7300/700)

"7300 attack points…" Ichigo felt his hands closing tighter and tighter. It looked like it was about to be his turn to fight.

"Ichigo!" Judai called from somewhere nearby, followed moment later by the voices of Kenzan and Sho. "Manjyome!"

"Thunder!" Manjyome shouted to correct him.

"Samurai, attack Armed Dragon LVL 10 now!" Sparrow pointed at the dragon, his Tengu Shadow launching forwards to strike. "Killing Strike!"

Manjyome watched the Samurai's approach…with a smile on his face. "Reverse card open."

"What good will Mystical Space Typhoon do for you now?" Sparrow asked.

"Who ever said it was that card?" Manjyome's set card flipped up to reveal a trap. "I activate the trap card Vampire Bat Storm! When the opponent has more monsters in play than me and they attack I can negate that attack. For every monster in play they lose 500 life points, while I gain 500 life points for every monster on my field!"

Ichigo's jaw dropped just as Judai, Sho and Kenzan all emerged into the clearing. "GAH!"

"What?" Sparrow gasped as his Samurai floated back over to his field, stumbling as the overwhelming power of Tenraikyoka Gekido went unused. "Blast you!" A card appeared face-down on his field face-down. "I set one card face-down and end my turn!"

Sparrow- 2400

Manjyome- 1100

Manjyome drew. "This is the end. I activate Ojamandala, paying 1000 life points to special summon Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black from my graveyard to the field!" There were three flashes of color that came out of his graveyard and formed into the three little creatures. (0/1000)x3

"_We're here again!"_ The three Ojamas landed in a row and posed, dancing around a little.

"Once again you summon those weaklings." Sparrow scoffed. "Against one such as myself…"

"They'll still win!" Manjyome held up the card he had just drawn. "Go Ojama Delta Hurricane!" His three Ojamas suddenly started spinning, creating a wheel of color that fell over Sparrow's field. After a few moments the man's field exploded, followed by which the three monsters returned to Manjyome's side. "This card, if used while the three Ojamas are in play, destroys all cards on your field!"

"My field…was completely destroyed?" Sparrow's surprised faded to fear as he saw the giant claw of Armed Dragon LVL 10 emerge from the smoke and crash down on his head.

Sparrow- 0

Manjyome- 100

"…" Ichigo was completely speechless. ("He just beat a Soul Shadow deck…and those messed up magic cards too…")

Sparrow dropped to his knees, hidden eyes directed at Manjyome. "You…defeated my Shadows? How is this possible…with such a random and directionless deck…"

"Next time you want to call me a nameless rookie, remember this well and I promise you shall never forget the name of the man who beat you!" Manjyome turned to face the three people he knew who were here. "Here we go! Ich!"

"Ju!" Sho yelled, pumping his fist into the air.

"Hyaku!" Kenzan followed up, mimicking the action.

"Zen!" Judai yelled from right next to Ichigo, the half demon jumping to his feet in surprise.

"Manjyome Thunder!" His black trenchcoat blowing around him, Manjyome turned to look at Sparrow. "Remember that name, and never forget this defeat! Now leave!"

"Very well." Sparrow stood up, the ribbon around his neck blowing in the same wind as Manjyome's trenchcoat. "Since you wish for me to remember your name, Manjyome Thunder, then let me ask you to remember ours."

"Ours?" Ichigo, Judai, and Manjyome all asked at the same time. Why had he said it is plural, wasn't he alone?

"We are the silent hands of justice. In this case you are the ones who are wrong, and because of your actions the world will suffer if you do not surrender to us all those like Ichigo Pilkington which arrive in your midst." Sparrow turned his back to them. "We are the silent hands of justice, UNSS. And do not think this is over. There will be others like me, much stronger agents who have mastered the use of more than just the three Tenraikyoka you faced today…"

"Even more cards like those three?" Manjyome narrowed his eyes angrily. "So what? We can defeat such trivial cards with our own power!"

"Perhaps, but let me tell you something else." Sparrow turned, his eyes meeting Ichigo's since he knew that this would mean the most to one that understood it. "To become a member of UNSS you must be capable of using either a Soul Shadow deck or a Soul Force deck. However, amongst us there are those which have gained a power you cannot get through training or through money. A set of cards with unique powers that add onto the Soul Deck of those that acquire it. I am not one of those agents, so you were spared today. If you continue to oppose us though, they will come out…"

Ichigo felt like every word was burning itself into his brain. "A power that adds to the strength of a Soul Shadow deck? Such a thing exists?"

"They are the Phalanx." The man shimmered slightly and then disappeared.

After a moment of silence Judai broke the calm by grinning and patting Ichigo on the back. "Thanks to all the great duels it looks like you're going to be bringing us you're starting to become my favorite person."

"That's beside the point." Manjyome turned to look Ichigo right in the eye. "I think you might be best off explaining what you know about these people, new student."

The half demon gulped and rubbed the back of his head nervously. ("This should be fun…")

_To be continued…_

_With Sparrow's defeat it has been shown to Ichigo that while he is currently alone not all is lost. Even against the mysterious group that has identified itself as UNSS, he has potential allies who are willing to fight with him…sort of. However now the real question is what UNSS is, and what is their connection to his sudden trip into the past?_

_Next chapter: The Worst Possible Arrival ; Masami versus Kenzan _

_Author's Notes: I'm currently accepting character submissions for this story. The only current open spaces are members of UNSS. For more details please refer to my forums, which should have information about the submission process tommorow. _


	4. The Worst Possible Arrival

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh GX. I do own Ichigo though.

Shifting Generations Saga

Chapter 4: The Worst Possible Arrival; Masami versus Kenzan

"Ahhh, another fine day of academic scholarship!" A lone form walked through the hallways of Duel Academy's classroom building, long blue coat-tails flowing behind him while his white shoes clicked on the concrete floor. "In each of these rooms sit dozens of students working diligently to become the next geniuses of the world! It is so splendid, na noe ne!"

Since during this period Chrono de Mediz didn't have a class to teach, he decided the best way to spend this small amount of spare time was to wander across the building and make sure that nothing was out of order. After all, this was a place of learning and shenanigans had no purpose here.

Stopping at a window, Chronos sighed in delight at the shining blue sky above. "It is such a beautiful day, na no nae."

"Isn't it though," Someone said from off to the teacher's side.

"It truly…" Chronos froze, and after a passing moment jumped in surprise as he realized that there was a Ra Yellow student sitting outside the window on an overhang located a few feet from the windowsill. "What are you doing out there!? Come inside before you hurt yourself, na no nae!"

"Don't worry," The boy sitting on the ledge had bright green hair and a pair of coke-bottle thick glasses, the glare from the lenses hiding his eyes. "Because I'm made of rubber."

"Huh?" The statement brought Chronos pause because he had absolutely no idea what the boy was talking about.

"No reaction huh?" The boy rubbed his chin worriedly. "So this really is the past?"

"What are you talking about?" Chronos asked confusedly, wondering if this boy was sane or not.

"Do the terms Bankai or Rasengan mean anything to you?" The boy didn't get a reaction beyond Chronos staring at him. "I guess it really is the past. Alright, bye." Standing up and brushing his pants off, the boy walked off the edge of overhang and dropped out of sight.

"This is the third floor!" Chronos leapt out of the window to try and grab the boy, his boots accidentally catching on the windowsill to keep him from falling.

"Yeah I know!" The boy called from the ground, waving up at the upside-down hanging teacher. "Bye Sensei, have a good day." He turned and strolled off, seemingly unharmed from the fall.

"Who was that?" Chronos muttered, still a bit confused…and then he realized that he couldn't get back up from his hanging position. "Somebody save me, na no nae!"

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Within the darkness he spoke. "We are the silent hands of justice." A low click came from nearby and filled the office with light, revealing a tall man with a black afro sitting at a desk. "It took you long enough to get that light fixed!"

"Sorry sir," The repairman send from the base bowed slightly and showed himself out, since Lord Beast was currently busy reprimanding Sparrow for his failure to capture the target.

"As I was saying," Standing up to his full height, which was a towering seven feet tall, Lord Beast adjusted his mirrored aviator sunglasses and glared down at Sparrow, who was standing perfectly straight. "We are the silent hands of justice, the UNSS. And you, Sparrow, despite being an Apprentice Agent, should have been more than enough to deal with a bunch of kids."

"I apologize…"

"I'm not done yet!" The man slammed his fist down on the desk, cracking the wood forcefully and causing Sparrow to jump slightly. "Yet you return to us not only without the target, but with your tail between your legs because you lost to someone who wasn't even the target!?"

The Apprentice Agent, face still hidden behind his mask, bowed his head once more. "I apologize deeply for my failure, but you must understand that…"

"I don't want to hear it!" Lord Beast bellowed. "You've been through the same Tenraikyoka training that the rest of the UNSS agents have been through, and possess the skill necessary to use three of the twelve cards. And yet you're telling me with even that and your Soul Deck you couldn't beat some stacks of random cards!? It's sickening!"

"Don't be so harsh on him, Lord Afro." A voice grumbled from off to the side, followed by a loud yawn. "It's for this reason Sparrow's still an Apprentice Agent, after all."

"How dare you call me that, Tortoise!" The man pointed angrily at another man that was sitting on the couch in the corner of the room, a cap over his eyes as he lounged. "Do you think this is a joke!? One of the members of UNSS lost to some kid!"

"It just means that fate has determined to drop the target amongst strong enemies." Another loud yawn came from under the cap. "If you're going to blow your top at least blow it over something worthwhile, sir. It's not like the target has gotten away, after all. He is still at Duel Academy and from what Sparrow reports seems to understand his situation. Therefore he is essentially without any assistance beyond the kindness of strangers who I am sure will be quick to dispose of him when they find out his true identity."

"That doesn't make matters any easier!" Collapsing back in his chair, Lord Beast waved one hand dismissively at Sparrow. "Get out of my sight and go train yourself some more. The next time I send you on a mission will decide on how much better you get."

The Apprentice Agent bowed and then vanished without a trace.

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Manjyome and Ichigo both stared at the computer screen in the former's room quietly. Judai, Sho and Kenzan all were sitting in the main room watching television and occasionally piercing the rather uncomfortable silence with their laughter.

Finally Manjyome said something. "He said UNSS, right?"

"Yeah," Ichigo sat down in the spare chair he had pulled up and looked as if he was going deep into thought, eyes closed and head tilted to the side. "So someone from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria has it out for me. That's a bit of a surprise."

A vein bulged out of Manjyome's forehead, but he stayed silent and continued browsing the internet. Up to this point the information they had was very sparing. They knew that Tenraikyoka meant Divine Permission, and from the way that Sparrow has spoken about it said that it was a privilege to have those cards. According to Ichigo Soul Shadows were 'a super deck you can only get if you're really, really, really good'. Therefore they had assumed that UNSS was some kind of duelist organization. But if it was then they had no way of gathering information about it through normal means. ("I suppose that silent hands of justice comment weren't a joke.")

Judai and Sho both suddenly yelled in surprise as they looked at the clock and realized they were late for class, making a mad dash out the door without even having the time to say goodbye. With a grin on his face Kenzan grabbed the abandoned remote and collapsed bodily across the couch.

"…I guess they must want me to be a janitor or something…." Ichigo, who had just been prattling on, was suddenly silenced as Manjyome shoved a rolled up sock into his mouth roughly.

"Shut up!" The black-haired boy stood up and walked past the now-silent boy, who was trying to chew around the thing that had gotten into his mouth. "It's obviously not a university; the real UNSS we're looking for must be some kind of shadow operation that doesn't work in the public!"

"I see." Ichigo nodded his head sagely, one hand resting across his chin.

"Where'd the sock go?" Manjyome asked worriedly.

"I ate…" The rest of Ichigo's sentence disappeared as suddenly there were a pair of hands around his throat that were trying to force him to cough up the piece of clothing that had 'attacked' him.

Neither of them had noticed that in that time Kenzan had gotten up, stretched, and walked off.

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"I guess since Aniki won't be out of class for another hour that I'd better go check around to make sure that none of these UNSS guys are snooping." Kenzan shoved his hands into his pockets and lazily head off towards the main classroom building.

Or he was anyway until something bounced off of his head, its original location having to have been in the treetops. "My dear god those dreadlocks look terrible on you."

"What was that-don!?" The dinosaur duelist looked up in the trees angrily, immediately catching sight of a yellow-uniformed teen with bright green hair and glasses. "Who are you to criticize how I look-saurus!?"

"Who?" The boy dropped out of the tree and landed solidly to the ground, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a finger. "Masami Morioka, the greatest genius of them all. And who are you?"

"Tyranno Kenzan, that's who!" Now the other Ra Yellow was mad. Who did this guy think he was, hurling stuff at people's heads and then making fun of how they looked? "What about your glasses, huh Megame!? Or that hair even!"

"Oh stop, you're killing me with the slings and arrows of your words." Masami walked past Kenzan and cracked his neck by tilting it to the right roughly. "If you want to really hurt me then how about a duel?"

"That sounds just fine-don!" Kenzan was officially ticked off now. This guy's attitude was more than he could stand.

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_A few minutes later…_

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"Duel!" Kenzan and Masami both yelled at the same time, drawing their opening hands from their decks.

Kenzan- 4000

Masami- 4000

"I'm first, draw!" Kenzan inserted the top card of his deck into his hand and held up a monster card. "Gilasaurus can special summon itself from my hand to the field at the cost of allowing you to special summon a monster from your graveyard. However since you've got no monsters in your graveyard I can just special summon it-saurus!" A hissing raptor appeared on his field, a low snarl coming from its snout. (1400/400)

Masami pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one hand and yawned quietly. "Interesting…but not particularly original."

"What was that?" Kenzan snarled along with his dinosaur and slid the monster card he had just summoned into his graveyard, a giant bulky-bodied dinosaur appearing in its place. "I sacrifice Gilasaurus to summon Dark Driceratops in attack mode!" (2400/1500)

"I'm still not convinced about your originality." Masami sat down and crossed his legs together. "You see I have a dear friend that runs dinosaur monsters as well, but when I face her and she summons her monsters they have intensity to them that even I cannot understand or match. Against you though…" He pretended to fall over and start snoring.

Right now Kenzan wished more than anything else that it was his turn, but since it wasn't all he could do was prepare. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn-saurus!"

Masami hopped to his feet and drew. "A 2400 attack monster would scare most duelists, especially such a terrifying dinosaur." He threw a card onto his disk and a naked man covered by metal bands appeared on his field. "Against one such as myself though there is no such power. I summon Genetic Soldier in attack mode." (1000/1000)

"Genetic Soldier?" Kenzan blinked at the monster, his earlier anger forgotten. "How is a 1000 attack power monster going to beat a 2400?"

"When Genetic Soldier is summoned I add one card with DNA Helix in its title from my deck to my hand." Masami removed his deck from its slot and with remarkable ease flipped a card from his deck into his hand, and then replaced the stack of cards. "I choose DNA Helix-Badger."

"A DNA Helix?" Kenzan tilted his head to the side in surprise at this. "I've never heard of cards like that."

"I suppose you wouldn't have." Masami slid three cards into his disk, and three cards appeared on his field. "I activate DNA Helix-Badger, DNA Helix-Spider, and DNA Helix-Dragon." His Genetic Soldier screamed in pain and started to grow, its body twisting and warping as it suddenly became a titanic creature that was a mix of all the mentioned DNA types. (2600/1000)

"What!?" Kenzan's eyes widened in confusion and fear at the newly summoned monster. "How did that happen-saurus!?"

"How?" Masami gave a quirky smile and adjusted his glasses. "When a DNA Helix comes into play I select one Genetic monster on my field. Afterwards that monster gains a new type, attribute, and stat bonus along with its own. Spider increases by 300, Badger increases by 800, and Dragon increases by 500. Also," He held up four fingers. "My warrior type Soldier is now also an insect, dragon, and beast type. In addition he is a light, earth, and wind attribute as well."

Kenzan's surprise turned to instant focus as he saw the Genetic Soldier charge at him. "Reverse card open!"

Masami's eyes, for just a moment, became visible behind his glasses and he pointed at the card that Kenzan was pointing at. "That one, Soldier." His monster bellowed out a battlecry and flapped its draconic wings, a powerful blast of wind hitting the set card and shattering it. "When a monster powered up by DNA Helix-Dragon attacks I may select one magic or trap card in play and destroy it. Also, that card cannot be chained when I do so."

"That means…" Kenzan braced himself as his Dark Driceratops was slashed in half by the claws of the Genetic Soldier. "That's…"

"Not done yet," Masami muttered. "When the monster targeted by Spider deals you damage you discard a card at random from your hand."

Kenzan let out a protesting gasp as one of the two remaining cards in his hand suddenly disappeared. "Hey, wait a second…"

"When the monster powered up by Badger deals you damage you take an additional 800 points of damage!" Masami lowered his arm, his expression remaining neutral as his monster slashed its claws through Kenzan roughly before returning to his field.

Kenzan- 3000

Masami- 4000

"Now that we've got that little bit of unpleasant business out of the way, it's time to set up for your attack." Another continuous magic card appeared on Masami's field. "I activate the continuous magic card Long Ordeal. While this card is in play whenever a monster on my field is destroyed as a result of battle I may pay 500 life points to draw a card. End turn."

"You're really annoying-saurus…" Kenzan drew.

"I take pride in being a pest, thought believe me," Masami smiled quirkily again. "I do not always act this way. At the moment I'm simply not taking you seriously, that is all."

"And that really burns me up!" The dinosaur duelist slapped a card onto his disk and a tank-treaded machine appeared on his field. "I summon Dino Base in attack mode!" (?) "When this card is summoned I remove one dinosaur type monster from my hand from the game. Dino Base then gains that monsters attack points!" Flipping the only card in his hand over, he revealed a picture of a titanic and snarling monster. "Ultimate Tyranno is removed from the game and its attack is added to that of my monster!" (3000/0)

"3000….not bad, I suppose…" Masami walked the tank-tread machine run his Soldier over with very little emotion in his voice. "At this time the effect of Long Ordeal activates." He added the top card of his deck to his hand.

Kenzan- 3000

Masami- 3100

"Wait a second-saurus…" Kenzan blinked at Masami's field, and realized that the DNA Helix cards hadn't disappeared. "Why didn't your magic cards go away now that the monster they're equipped to has been beaten?"

"It's because they weren't equipment cards, they were merely selecting my Genetic Soldier as their target. Now they have no target, and as such are dead weight." Masami drew and threw a card onto his disk, a female version of his Soldier appearing on his field. "I summon Genetic Mistress in attack mode." (800/800)

"Why would you summon something so weak in attack mode? Are you going to go searching for another DNA Helix card-saurus?" Kenzan had already adjusted to the fact that this opponent had a powerful strategy, so he didn't sound terribly worried.

"No." Masami smiled as his Mistress suddenly twisted and changed, gaining fur, multiple limbs, and scaled wings. "The effect of Mistress makes her the new target of all DNA Helix cards in play." (2400/800) "Also, I activate DNA Helix-Bull for one last boost, a 700 one." A pair of horns sprang from the woman's head and she howled in anger, kicking up dirt up at her feet. (3100/800) "Attack."

Kenzan stepped back and had to brace himself again as Masami's monster shattered his Dino Base with one hit and his set card with a flap of its wings. "Damn..." Then he screamed as the Mistress flew up and slashed him with her claws because of the effect of Badger.

Kenzan- 2100

Masami- 3100

"End turn." Masami noted that his magic and trap field was full, but it didn't matter. He had no magic or trap cards in his hand he wanted to play anyway.

"I just noticed something, the weakness to your Genetic deck…" Kenzan grinned like he had just won. "You can't play any magic and trap cards now!"

"So I can't," Masami gasped out worriedly, before returning to his normal neutral expression. "Is that the reaction you wanted? Or perhaps something with a bit more screaming and panicking?"

"Draw!" Kenzan knew now that if he let Masami keep angering him he wasn't going to win. ("Even though he's locked down at least he still has cards on his field.") After that last assault Kenzan was down to whatever card he drew. "I activate the magic card Dimension Egg."

A card slid out of his graveyard and he held it up to show off his Gilasaurus. "I remove a dinosaur, dragon or winged beast monster from my graveyard and then special summon a level two or lower monster of the same type as the removed monster from my graveyard to the field-don!" A hissing tiny raptor appeared on his field, lightning bolts painted onto its sides. "Speedsaurus is special summoned!" (300/300)

"Hmm?" Masami blinked at the little creature. This was something he had never seen before. "And just what does this do?"

"When Speedsaurus is special summoned and I have no cards on my field or in my hand I can draw twice-don!" Kenzan added two cards to his hand and held up a magic card. "Pot of Greed lets me draw two cards-saurus!"

"So you've drawn a lot of cards, huh?" Masami shrugged his shoulders, showing he didn't care. "So far I feel that you're not anything like that one person, and until you can match her power your dueling abilities do not impress me!"

"Then let's see this impress you!" Kenzan snapped up a magic card and his Speedsaurus disappeared. "I sacrifice Speedsaurus to activate Dimension Evolution Formula, special summoning a dinosaur from my removed from play pile!" An earth-shattering roar shook the ground as the huge body of his Ultimate Tyranno appeared in play, its head aimed down at Masami's Genetic Mistress. (3000/2000)

"A 3000 attack monster already lost to my Mistress, what good will summoning a new one do?"

"It'll do plenty of good-saurus!" A magic card appeared on Kenzan's field and the ground began to shake. "Jurassic Quake can only activate when I have a dinosaur in play! All cards in play that are currently targeting something are negated!"

Masami's Mistress suddenly reverted to her human form, the genetic enhancements disappearing instantly. (800/800)

"Ultimate Tyranno attacks Genetic Mistress!" Kenzan pointed at the opponent's field, his eyes becoming slotted for a moment. "Absolute Bite!"

Masami barely flinched as the giant dinosaur stomped on his Mistress and he was hit by a powerful backlash. "Long Ordeal activates now." He drew a card.

Kenzan- 2100

Masami- 400

"End turn!" Kenzan grinned widely. "With that you can't do anything now! All you can do is set monsters to defend against my attacks!"

"Is that so?" Masami drew from his deck and coldly added the card to his hand. "Kenzan-kun, may I give you a little word of advice?" Through the glare of his glasses one scarlet eye could suddenly be seen, and it reflected an anger that surpassed something as simple as stating the obvious like Kenzan had done should have caused. "Never say I cannot do something! I am beyond the laws that govern most, after all."

"What are you talking about?" Kenzan didn't quite understand what he meant. "What laws?"

"The laws of reality, probability, etc." Masami slapped a card onto his disk and a blob of gray matter appeared on his field. "I summon Genetic Nightmare in attack mode!" (2000/0) "When this monster is summoned, as part of its cost, I must send one DNA Helix card on my field to the graveyard." He held up DNA Helix-Spider and slid it into his graveyard slot.

Another magic card appeared on his field. "I activate Genetic Sacrifice. During this turn I may sacrifice DNA Helix cards on my field as if they were monsters when I tribute summon a Genetic named monster."

"But you already summoned for the turn," Kenzan noted. "It's a waste."

"The only waste here is the waste of space between your ears, apparently." A magic card appeared on his field in the one open magic/trap zone he had. "I activate Quick Summon, sacrificing DNA Helixes Badger and Dragon along with my Genetic Nightmare to summon Genetic God in attack mode!" A giant howling dragon-like grey-skinned monster appeared on his field behind him. (3000/3000) "Genetic God, when tribute summoned, destroys all magic and trap cards on my field." His Long Ordeal and DNA Helix Bull faded away.

"So now we've both got equal attack monsters on our fields?" Kenzan smirked. "What are you going to do about that-don?"

"Simple…" Masami's Genetic God hissed loudly and started to glow green. "For every Genetic named monster and DNA Helix in my graveyard Genetic God gains 300 attack points." (5100/3000) "Genetic Crusher!"

Kenzan didn't have the time to say anything before his Ultimate Tyranno was slashed in half by the much larger Genetic God's claws.

Kenzan- 0

Masami- 400

As the field faded away Kenzan dropped to his knees and growled in frustration. "I was so close too…"

"Don't make me laugh." Masami turned and walked off, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You weren't even close to beating me."

"What's your problem anyway!?" Kenzan jumped back to a standing position and was about to go tackle the other boy.

Masami stopped and slowly turned to face the dinosaur duelist, the glare of his glasses parting to reveal his scarlet eyes once more. "I didn't set my television to record the episode of my favorite anime playing tonight, that's why."

"That's it?" Kenzan pointed at him. "You can't call that an excuse for being angry!"

"Oh?" Masami feigned indifference, slowly turning away…and then spinning around fully and punching the nearest tree as hard as he could. A loud crack noise came from the giant plant, and it released a rain of leaves around them both. "I beg to differ." Then he walked off, listening to the resounding cracks as the tree slowly fell over, its roots trying their hardest to stop it from doing so.

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"Damn it!" Sparrow slammed his hand down onto the table of the UNSS employee lounge, his shadowed eyes trembling in anger. "How could I have lost!?"

"I'll tell you how you lost." Across from him sat a man that had his legs up on the table and was taking a sip of his cup of coffee. "It's because you…"

"If you say it's because I lack 'these guns' then I swear I'll put a bullet right between your eyes, Butterfly." Sparrow was not in the mood to listen to the bragging of one of the biggest blowhards in UNSS. "Physical strength, while important, wasn't my failing here. If I had wanted to physically kill the boy it would have been a simple task. It was the duel where my Shadows failed."

"That's the other thing!" A tall man dressed in a tight black shirt and pants that showed off his athletic physique slammed his cup down and leapt to his feet, flexing his arms and causing his pectorals to stand at attention. "You don't possess the right kind of attitude to become an Agent! You have to have confidence that truly surpasses all others, for while you might be a silent hand of justice you are still a hand of justice! We are the protectors of this world, and as such it is our duty to use the sacred power of the Tenraikyoka and our own natural dueling talents to battle the shadow duelists who wish to throw this world into chaos!" At this last part Sparrow could have sworn he saw the other man's ridiculously bushy eyebrows and mustache move like his muscles had earlier.

"…if you're so confident then why don't you try and apprehend the subject?" The sulking Apprentice Agent looked to the coffee maker, which was bubbling with a fresh brew. "Lord Beast gave all Apprentice Agents permission to attempt to apprehend the subject, so it wouldn't be like you'd be breaking the rules. In fact this might be your big break, Butterfly."

"Stop calling me that!" The man turned away and popped his neck. "Out of all the possible codenames what drove Lord Beast to give me that one I'll never know!"

"Well, are you going to take this opportunity or not?" Sparrow smirked from underneath his mask, knowing full and well that Butterfly would take the challenge and fail. He always did.

"Yeah," A relaxed voice said from the doorway as Tortoise walked into the lounge, yawning loudly. "If you go then I'll go too."

"You'll go, Tortoise!?" Sparrow sounded absolutely surprised by this. "But didn't Lord Beast say that all Phalanx and Agents were supposed to await his direct orders before attempting to apprehend the subject?"

"Oh, you meant this permission?" The man held up a slip of paper and tipped his cap up to show off his teeth, grinning sleepily. "I've got all the permissions I need; now I just need the man-power."

"But doesn't Lord Beast think its overkill to send one such as you out there?" Sparrow still couldn't believe that such a thing had already come to pass.

"Do you think this is a simple matter which can be dealt with just through sheer numbers alone?" Slipping his cap back on tightly, Tortoise pursed his lips into a tight frown. "No, this is the kind of thing that can only be dealt with by using the best available powers the UNSS has. So Butterfly, are you going to come with me? I could use you to help me break the subject's main support at the academy."

"Of course, sir!" The man saluted, though his jaw clenched at the mention of his hated codename.

_To be continued…_

_In the next chapter Butterfly leads the assault, using a tactic thought up by Tortoise to break down Ichigo's support at the Academy. Its name is Operation Revealing Light._

_Next chapter: Operation Revealing Light; UNSS begins its attack_


	5. Operation Revealing Light

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh GX.

Shifting Generations Saga

Chapter 5: Operation Revealing Light; UNSS begins its attack

Ichigo yawned loudly and kicked his legs up in front of him, the heels of his shoes slamming into the desk and shaking it. "So, Manjyome-sempai, is there anything you'd like me to do while you're at class?"

"Is not eating my socks something you can fit on your list?" Manjyome couldn't believe this guy had actually swallowed and was currently digesting a lump of cotton. "I guess if that idiot Judai arrives back here before I do then make sure you relay to him what we found out."

"But we didn't find anything out, right?" Ichigo hadn't really been paying attention to Manjyome's researching, so he wasn't sure.

"Exactly," Arms sitting at his sides to show he had given up using conventional methods to find out information about UNSS, Manjyome walked out the door.

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The first thing Manjyome arrived to was a line of students leaving the classroom his next class was located in. "Huh, where's everyone going?"

"Manjyome!" Judai yelled from down the hallway, waving.

"Sanda!" The black-haired boy corrected before walking up to the Hero Duelist. "Do you know what's going on?"

"There's a big emergency message they're going to give us in the auditorium." Judai grinned childishly. "I wonder if another interesting duelist has shown up."

"If one had they wouldn't be broadcasting their arrival like this." Manjyome turned and walked off in the direction of the auditorium. "Let's go find out what it is though."

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As students filed into the circular auditorium, which was essentially a very large version of a classroom with plenty of room and an extra-huge video screen up on the wall, there was a pair of men up in front preparing the computer connected to the screen for something.

At the very front of the auditorium, where a teacher would normally stand, was a tall man wearing a black suit. "This is quite a lot of people." He turned to look at one of the two men working on the computer. "Are you sure this plan will work, Tadpole?"

"Yes it will, now face forward and get ready, Butterfly." A green-haired man in a suit similar to the other UNSS Apprentice Agent's kneeled in front of the hard drive of the computer and inserted the disk he had brought along.

("If this goes well then I'll be getting a big promotion!") Butterfly, in his mind, was flexing his hardest in delight. ("And this part will be easy. Once I'm done talking these students and their teachers will be more than glad to hand over the kid.")

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"What's the meaning of this Principal Sameshima, dearu." The round-bodied and short form of Professor Napoleon waddled up and took a seat next to Professor Chronos and the Principal.

"I don't know myself." Resting his head in his hands and his elbows on the desk in front of him, Sameshima frowned as he looked down at the stone-faced form of the man who had identified himself as Agent Roger. "That man suddenly showed up in my office with some other men and they told me that a matter of world security was at stake. Then he told me to gather the students together so he could share a crucial warning with them."

"Apparently that warning is meant for us as well, na no ne." Chronos crossed his arms across his chest and relaxed into his chair, though he was eyeing the men below with a bit of distrust. "Principal, can we trust these men? For them to suddenly show up out of the blue and demand our cooperation is rather…"

"It's out of my hands since the government is involved, apparently." Sameshima didn't like how grave the voice of Agent Roger had been. ("Did something happen?")

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As the last of the students emptied into the auditorium and the doors were shut, the ambient lights dimmed and the main lights on stage increased to bring all focus on 'Agent Roger'.

"Thank you for arriving here swiftly on such short notice, students and staff of Duel Academy." Butterfly's caterpillar mustache twitched a little and he made a grand hand motion before them. "I will be frank with you, this is not good news. There is a dangerous person currently in Duel Academy, a murderous creature disguised as a human." A series of confused and disbelieving whispers sprung up around the shadowed crowds of students.

Up near the front Manjyome glared at the Apprentice Agent silently, his legs crossed. "So that's their game…"

On the huge screen behind him a drawing appeared. Its likeness was a perfect twin of Ichigo's face. "This young man, Ichigo Pilkington, is a dangerous world-class criminal. His crimes up to this point are having started countless Darkness Games, being involved in at the murder of at least twenty government employees, and having connections to at least five incidents of world terrorism. It has also been confirmed by one of our field agents that this criminal is currently in your midst. We have an official warrant for his arrest, and request that if anyone knows anything concerning this criminal they step forward now." His voice amplified across the room loudly, and his hands went behind his back.

When no one spoke up he continued. "We are currently conducting a search of the island for him, so for everyone's safety please remain here for the time being. We will make this as quick of a search as possible." Followed by which he went silent and continued to stand silently as he waited for a call from one of the field troops.

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"A dangerous criminal…" Up in the Obelisk Blue seating Asuka Tenjoin looked at the picture on the screen and lifted her eyebrows in disbelief. "He looks kind of like Judai. Is that kind of guy really a dangerous criminal?"

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Rei Saotome, down in the lower seats, tilted her head to the side and continued looking at the picture for a few moments before grinning. "Are they sure? He looks way too goofy to be a criminal."

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"This is bad, Manjyome." Judai whispered this off to his side. "They're here for Ichigo…"

"It's Sanda, and you didn't figure that out the moment you heard there was an emergency meeting?" Resting his head in his palm, Manjyome knew there was nothing they could do about this. ("Hopefully they won't find him and let us go though. It's boring just sitting here doing nothing.")

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_One hour later…_

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Butterfly had remained still this whole time, and he was on the verge of excusing himself to use the restroom. ("How long is it supposed to take to capture this guy? We've got troops all over the island looking for him, it shouldn't take more than a twenty minutes at most to…")

"_This is Squad Eight reporting in!"_ A voice screamed from his earpiece, nearly deafening him and echoing across the entire auditorium thanks to the speakers nearby. _"We've located the subject and…"_ The sound of a gunshot came from the fallen earpiece, followed by a loud grunting thud.

Butterfly ignored the quiet whispers coming from the audience and picked up the earpiece, bringing the microphone up to his mouth. "Have you captured him?"

"_No,"_ Ichigo's voice replied. _"My aim was way off. The armor I'm wearing was really tough to punch through though. What was it made of, steel or something?"_

Butterfly shoved the earpiece into his pocket in a panic before turning to look at Tadpole and the other UNSS agent. "We're going now…"

A loud crash noise came from just outside the doors to the auditorium, followed by the sound of gunshots. There were a few shouts to open fire, and then strangely it went quiet in one instant. Then there was only one sound, the echoingly loud clop of a pair of sneakers on the floor. And it was getting closer.

"_I wonder,"_ The earpiece in Butterfly's pocket said. _"Why you guys have such a vendetta against me…"_ The doors opened slowly, and Ichigo, dressed in his Osiris Red uniform, walked into the back of the auditorium. "I intend to find out right now though." Dropping the walkie-talkie he had taken off one of the guys that had opened fire on him to the ground, he started down the steps slowly.

Off to the sides many of the Obelisk Blue students skittered down the aisle to keep their distance from the sunglassed boy. Asuka was among one of the only students that didn't budge from her spot at all. She just watched him as he walked past the Obelisk Blue aisle on his way to the front of the auditorium.

"Ichigo Pilkington," Butterfly barked out with authority, the other two UNSS members walking up to flank him. "You are under arrest."

Ichigo kept his approach, his eyes hidden behind the thick shades he was wearing. His hands were in his pockets, so if not for the circumstances it would almost be like he was casually walking down the street without a care in the world.

"Don't be fooled by his appearance!" Butterfly yelled out to the gathered students and faculty. "This kid is a cold-hearted killer. He'd just as soon stab you in the back before you even realized you had been betrayed."

Ichigo didn't respond, but instead continued on his slow and steady path to the front of the auditorium.

As he passed by the Osiris Red rows he didn't risk looking in the direction of Judai and Manjyome, though for a moment he gained a half-smile which instantly disappeared before anyone could identify it in the dimness of the lights. Then he started to approach the center of the 'stage'.

"Hold on there, criminal," The nameless was suddenly standing alongside the boy, pressing a 9mm pistol against his head. "Ya'll need to surrender."

Butterfly silently smirked at this. ("Coyote is the best marksman and quickest shooter amongst the Apprentice Agents. At point blank range the target can't possibly escape.") "You're under arrest. I'm glad you came to us on your own, now let's go."

"I'm not going anywhere with guys like you." Ichigo said this casually, completely ignoring the gun pressed against his head. "I want to duel whichever one of you is the best, that's all."

"That won't happen." Tadpole stepped past Butterfly and pointed at Ichigo's face. "You are not a duelist anyway. You're just a murderer that uses cards. This time we won't make the mistake of giving you a chance to do such a thing."

"So I take it your answer is no?" Ichigo smiled and started to walk around them to the center of the 'stage'.

"Hang on there pardner." Coyote pressed his pistol harder against the boy's head, forcing his skull to tilt slightly. "I didn't go and say ya'll could move."

Taking his hands out of his pockets, Ichigo frowned unhappily. "Come on, I thought with your Tenraikyoka cards and your Soul Decks a little guy like me wouldn't be a problem?"

"We ain't here to duel ya, we're here to place ya under arrest." The Apprentice Agent depressed the trigger of his weapon just a little. "You really wanna argue with the guy holding a gun to yer head, criminal?"

After a couple of seconds of silence, Ichigo off-handedly added something. "It's obvious you're not the strongest here."

"What was that!?" Coyote began to pull the trigger, but it didn't fire. Then he gasped in pain as Ichigo's right hand, which had grabbed his wrist at some point, squeezed gently and he lost all feeling in his arm. "How could…when…"

"Please don't shoot me." The boy twisted the man's arm gently and the pistol dropped from his numb fingers to the ground, where it was kicked across the floor away from all of them before he released the man's wrist. "I don't want to fight you guys, I want to duel you. Is that so hard to understand?" Then he took a step forward, slipped, and crashed face-first to the ground.

Even though, like everyone else in the room, Butterfly sweatdropped at the absolutely random thing Ichigo did, he didn't back down. "Do all of you see now? This criminal is violent, threatening and…"

"My name is Ichigo Pilkington." The fallen boy sat up and crossed his legs casually, speaking to the gathered students and staff rather than the men who were out to get him. "I'm seventeen years old. I love dueling, dogs and chasing chickens on farms."

Taking off his sunglasses and slipping them into his pocket, he looked up at them with his hazel eyes. As expected those near the front immediately noticed the cat-like shape of his pupils and gasped in surprise. "I am a half-demon, a term that probably doesn't mean anything to most of you." He stood up and ruffled his hair, the puff of brown moving slightly as a pair of pointed wolf ears of the same color emerged from atop his head.

This got a much larger reaction from the students, most of whom were either extremely shocked or were quick to regard Ichigo as crazy.

Up near the front Manjyome quickly wiped any surprise from his face and sat back in his chair with a bored look on his face. "So what?"

Judai wasn't quite as smooth with that action though, his eyes wide and an amazed look on his face. "That's cool!"

Clearing his throat, Ichigo looked up through the dimness. "I don't want to cause any trouble for this school, a place of great learning and great dueling. At the moment my situation is rather complicated and I can't share all of the details about it, but I still hope that I don't have to leave. However, if you say I have to Principal, then I will."

"It doesn't matter what the Principal says in this matter!" Butterfly yelled angrily, furious over the fact that Ichigo wasn't even looking their partial direction. His back was to them completely. "You're a criminal and do you think that…"

"A duelist is a duelist regardless of all else they might be." The half-demon stood up and smiled cheerfully up at the other students. "You don't have to listen to the rest of what I say, but please do not disregard my identity as a duelist. That is true no matter what else you may think."

Sameshima laced his fingers together and looked directly at Ichigo, and despite the distance their eyes met. "I do not doubt your identity as a duelist, but even if I wished to accept you into the Academy with open arms there is the fact you have a warrant out for your arrest."

"Oh don't worry about that." From off to the Principal's side Masami, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, took a bite of the pocky in his hand. "Those documents were pretty good, but they're lacking some verification watermarks. In other words, the gentlemen down there are not who they say they are."

He held up a couple of papers and dropped them on the desk in front of Sameshima before starting to walk down to the stage. "The first is an example of what such a paper should have on it; the second is the document they brought with them. Notice the areas I circled in pen."

"You left the documents in the Principal's office, didn't you Roger?" Tadpole turned and glared at his fellow Apprentice Agent.

"I…umm…." The man's brow twitched as he realized that he had. "Of course I didn't, that one kid must have stolen it!"

"Ah yes, of course." Masami mused, winking at the grinning Ichigo as he walked past and stopped in front of the trio. "So, would you please show me the rest of your evidence? After all, with your urgent arrest warrant actually being fake now you can't just swoop in and arrest Ichigo without any reason."

"…" Tadpole smiled slyly at the other green-haired male. "Who might you be?"

"Just a humble mad scientist, genius, and force of nature beyond your ability to comprehend." The Ra Yellow student turned to look out the gathered students with a quirky smile. "I am Masami Morioka-sama!"

"Why you…" Butterfly looked like he was about to punch the boy in the face when suddenly the Principal's voice brought a stop to all other actions.

"With this evidence in mind," Sameshima projected, his voice echoing off the walls of the auditorium. "I cannot accept this boy's guilt on your word alone, gentlemen."

"What are you talking about!?" Butterfly pointed at the two pieces of paper. "Our warrant is perfectly legal, the example sheet this guy gave you…it's a fake!"

"Oh…is that so?" Sameshima dryly commented before holding the 'fake' sheet of paper up. "Though I'd like to have a few words with Masami-kun as to how he got this out of my office, this sheet cannot be fake. It is the signed page from the stack of documents that signify the Japanese Government's recognition of Duel Academy as an official school."

Tadpole sighed and grabbed Butterfly's shoulder. "It's time to go. We've lost this round."

"Damn it!" The larger Apprentice Agent turned and stomped off with Coyote following him.

"Thanks Masami-sama." Ichigo stood up and brushed his pant legs off while a number of students rushed down the steps towards them, drawn mostly by curiosity about Ichigo.

"Hmph, you think you're pretty smart don't you?" Manjyome walked up to Masami and smirked at him.

"Think?" The green-haired self-declared genius rolled his shoulders and looked away. "Who's thinking anything? Now if you mean 'know' then yes."

"You've got quite an ego, don't you?"

"No more than yours, Manjyome 'Thunder'."

---------------------------

"Wow, so you can really hear out of those things?" Judai reached out and poked the brown-furred wolf ear on Ichigo's head, his hand snapping back when it twitched in response. "You really are an interesting guy."

The half-demon grinned for a moment, and then his expression went sour as he turned to look at Tadpole, who unlike the other two had yet to leave. "Well what are you waiting for? Get going."

The Apprentice Agent smirked at them. "I don't suppose the name Marufuji Sho means anything to either of you?"

"Sho?" Judai stepped forward, his brow furrowed in worry as he realized he hadn't seen his friend since their class had ended prematurely. "What did you do with him!?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Tadpole turned and ran out one of the exits, leaving a stupefied Judai and Ichigo to blink at where he had been.

"Wow, when the bad guy runs off without something like a smoke screen to cover them it looks really weird…" Ichigo gagged as Judai grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him out the way Tadpole had gone.

Masami and Manjyome were too busy arguing over who had the biggest ego to even notice their friends had just left.

----------------------------

Off in the words, Butterfly punched a nearby tree and winced at the rain of bark he got in response. "Damn that green-haired punk, I can't wait for the chance to get him alone! I'll show him why you don't make a fool of me!"

"Butterfly!" Tadpole yelled as he ran past the other Apprentice Agent.

"Stop calling me that!" The tall man turned the direction his fellow Apprentice Agent had come from just as Judai exploded through the brush. "Hey, where's Pilkington?"

"Huh?" The Hero duelist looked over his shoulder and sweatdropped. "He was with me a moment ago…when did he run off?" Then he remembered why he had run after these guys in the first place. "Hey, let Sho go right now!"

"What are you talking about?" Butterfly lifted up the Duel Disk on his arm and slid his deck into place in it. "I don't know any Sho, but I do know that if you want to get past me and find where your friend is then you'll have to beat me in a duel."

After a few frustrated moments Judai had his Duel Disk out. "Fine! But I'll never forgive you guys if you do anything to my friend!"

"Duel!" Butterfly and Judai pulled their opening hands from their decks, while a soft wind blew by and sent a small storm of leaves flying past them. In the distance there were the calls of Judai's name as Professor Chronos and the others searched for him.

Judai- 4000

Butterfly- 4000

"Don't go calling for help now, kid." The UNSS Apprentice Agent laughed out, his baritone voice echoing strongly off the trees. "It won't do you any good. Against someone like me, a member of UNSS, you won't be able to escape your fate for opposing our organization's will."

"Who ever said I was going to call for help?" Judai smiled cheerfully. "After seeing how powerful that Sparrow guy was I've wanted a chance to duel against one of you guys. I want to see the power of the Tenraikyoka and of these 'Soul Decks' of yours."

"…" Butterfly felt a bead of sweat slide down his forehead. "You're happy to duel me? What are you, crazy?" He pointed at the Osiris Red duelist dramatically. "Listen up and pound this information into your head, kid! The members of UNSS are the silent hands of justice! By opposing us you're saying that you'd prefer to be on the side of chaos and evil that will destroy the world!"

Judai narrowed his eyes slowly, cheerful expression faded slightly. "When you were on that stage, trying to make Ichigo seem like some kind of monster we should all loath and hate…" His hand shot up and he drew from his deck. "What part of that was justice?"

"If you only understand just what a threat that boy was to your lives you would hand him only to us without a single regret!" Butterfly shot his arm out and gave Judai a thumbs-down. "Your kindness towards him is misplaced, if you only knew what evils that boy was capable of!"

"I don't feel like arguing with you anymore." Judai threw a card onto his disk and a blue-armored superhero appeared in play in a spray of bubbles. "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode!" (800/1200) "When Bubbleman is summoned and I have no other cards in play I can draw two." Adding two cards to his hand, he held up a different one and a heavy bazooka-like weapon appeared over Bubbleman's shoulder. "I also equip Bubbleman with Bubble Shot, ending my turn." (1600/1200)

"If you won't listen to reason, then I suppose we don't have any purpose in trying to save you all." Butterfly drew and threw a card onto his disk, a man wearing a leather jacket with a 50s' style haircut appearing in play. "I summon Macho Force Big Shot in attack mode!" (1500/500) The summoned monster shot Judai a wink and ran a comb through his hair, which bounced back to its original shape almost immediately.

"Do you really think with a bunch of half-rate heroes you can defeat a deck forged from the soul of its user?" The Apprentice Agent erupted into hoarse laughter at that. "That's so stupid I can't even bring myself to defeat you just yet. Therefore I'll beat you in the next turn, silly kid! I set one card face-down and end my turn!" A card shimmered into existence behind his monster.

"Draw!" Judai pulled a seventh card off of his deck. ("This guy had better not be playing around with me. If he is then I won't forgive him.") "From my hand I activate the magic card Polymerization!" The forms of Elemental Heroes Featherman and Burst Lady appeared above him before they were sucked into a swirling vortex in the sky. "Come out now, Flame Wingman!" With a mighty battle-cry Judai's favorite card, the red and green dragon head-armed hero came into play. (2100/1200)

"Like any other Elemental Hero deck, you use fusion." Butterfly sighed and rolled his shoulders mockingly, acting as if Judai was a hopeless case. "How are such monsters going to be able to stop the power of a real duelist like myself?"

"Flame Wingman attacks Big Shot, Flame Shooter!" Judai's monster launched forwards and snapped its dragon arm up, releasing a powerful jet of flame at the opposing monster.

Butterfly snapped his arms up, muscles bulging slightly as he struck as pose. "A battle between men is something sacred, and yet to call you a man would be doing you a great service!" His Big Shot leapt right through the blazing flames of the Elemental Hero's attack and punched it in the gut, shattering it with a powerful impact.

"Flame Wingman!" Judai cried out in surprise. "How!?"

"How?" The UNSS Apprentice Agent held up his set card. "Shouldn't it be obvious, rookie? I activated A Man's Showdown. This trap card activates when a Macho Force on my field is attacked, destroying it and the attacking monster. The controller's of those monsters then take their monster's attacks in damage."

"Wait a second, then why wasn't Big Shot destroyed!?"

"That is the power of my Macho Force," Butterfly's monster returned to his field and ran its comb through its hair. "Big Shot is unaffected by targeting trap cards, meaning that while your Flame Wingman was easily crushed he survived without a scratch on his mighty frame."

Judai- 1900

Butterfly- 4000

"That's not all though." Butterfly slid A Man's Showdown into his graveyard slot. "When my trap finishes the battle phase is ended, so your Bubbleman can't even try to fight."

"Che, so what?" Judai inserted a card into his disk and it appeared face-down next to Bubbleman. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"So what, huh?" Butterfly drew. "It hasn't sunken in yet just how different our levels of dueling are? Very well then, I'll show you why you and I are different." A card slid from his hand into his graveyard and a pillar of light appeared on his field next to his Big Shot. "The effect of Macho Force Tough Guy requires I discard a card from my hand to summon him." A man with a face of scratchy stubble wearing a wife-beater appeared on his field, taking a puff of his cigar before glaring at Bubbleman and Judai in a surly manner. (1800/800)

Judai braced himself, getting ready for the inevitable attack by his opponent's monsters.

"I place one card face-down and end my turn." Butterfly smirked confidently, his caterpillar-like mustache wiggling back and forth. "What's the matter, kid? You look a little surprised that I'm not taking you seriously. Did you really expect me to unleash my full-force against a kid?"

Judai drew, his eyes still narrowed. ("Something is wrong here. If he was really taking it easy on me he would at least try to clear my field.") It didn't matter that much to him though. He would win regardless. "I summon Friendog in defense mode." A robotic dog appeared in a crouching position on his field alongside Bubbleman.

"Bubbleman, attack Big Shot now! Bubble Shooter!" The superhero lifted up the bazooka-like weapon and fired a spray of water that flew across the field towards the first of the Macho Force monsters.

"Reverse card open!" Butterfly's set card flipped up and he held up a card from his hand. "A Man's Brawl lets me special summon a monster from my hand with a level equal to or less than the level of your monster. Afterwards the target of battle changes to this monster! My choice is Macho Force Rough Man!" A giant man wearing a thin t-shirt appeared on his field. (1300/1300)

"Bubbleman is stronger!" Judai pointed at Rough Man. "Go!" The jet of water changed directions and crashed into the Macho Force monster, but nothing happened. "What!?"

"Rough man, once per turn, can negate all battle damage he would suffer." Butterfly threw back his head and started laughing. "Did you really think I would summon him just for the sake of doing so?"

"End turn…" Judai glanced at the cards remaining in his hand before bringing his attention back up to the field.

"Draw!" Butterfly held up a magic card and a familiar white symbol appeared shining over his field for a moment. "I activate Tenraikyoka Azukari." As he explained the effect he was grinning fiendishly. "I draw four cards." Pulling four cards off of his deck, he added them to his hand and pointed at Bubbleman. "Tough Guy, crush that hero!"

Removing his cigar from his mouth, the monster rushed at the Elemental Hero and kicked the Bubble Shooter from his hands, the bazooka-like weapon hurtling up into the air and shattering. "Big Shot, attack Bubbleman now!" The 50s man came running in right behind Tough Guy and punched Bubbleman across the chin, flooring and shattering him.

Judai- 1200

Butterfly- 4000

"Reverse card open!" Judai's hand snapped out and his set card flipped up. "Last Act of Hero activates when an Elemental Hero on my field is destroyed as a result of battle. I equip this card to one face-up monster in play and when that monster is sent to the graveyard as a result of battle I draw two cards. My choice is Friendog!"

The Apprentice Agent slid a card into his disk. "You want to draw two cards as well as recover an Elemental Hero and a Polymerization card? I don't think so!" His Rough Man ran across the field and punted the mechanical canine high into the air and out of sight.

"When Friendog…" Judai started to reach for his graveyard slot.

"Hold on there, little man!" Butterfly's Tough Guy and Big Shot both ran up to Judai and posed in front of him, glittering sparkles of light appearing around them. "I activated the quickplay magic card Glittering Pose! With this card's effect I can remove any number of Macho Force monsters on my field from the game. For every monster removed I select one face-up card in play and during this turn that card has its effect completely negated, even if it goes to the graveyard."

"So my defenses were set for nothing…" Judai frowned and lowered his arms to his sides, since he couldn't gain any cards from Last Act of Hero or recover cards with Friendog's effect.

"I place one card face-down and end my turn." A card appeared face-down behind Butterfly's Rough Man.

"It's my turn, draw!" Judai held the drawn card up for a moment before smiling. ("I'm not out of this duel yet!") He flipped the card over and it started to glow. "The magic card Combat Contact can only be activated if I have no cards on my field. I send Neospacians from my deck and hand to the graveyard before drawing a card, and then drawing an additional card for every monster on your field." Holding up a pair of cards, he slid them into his graveyard. "My choices are Glow Moss and Black Panther!" Then he drew twice, once for the primary effect of Combat Contact and one for the number of monsters on his opponent's field.

"Hmmm…Neospacian?" Butterfly lifted an eyebrow at this. "What are those?"

"You'll see soon enough!" Judai snapped up a card. "I activate the magic card Cocoon Party! For every Neospacian in my graveyard I'll special summon a Cocoon monster!" A pair of floating sacs of a strange webbing with a little animal inside appeared on his field. One of the monsters was a little bird and the other was a little pink dolphin.

"What will those little creatures do against me? In fact, what do they even have to do with Elemental Heroes?" The Apprentice Agent barked out at a laugh. "There's no way they can beat me!"

"They aren't supposed to beat you!" Judai snapped up a card and his field magic card slot opened. "I activate the field magic card Neospace!" The forest around them changed to a roiling area of rainbow light. "While this card is in play I can activate the effects of Cocoon Hummingbird and Cocoon Dolphin!" The two little monsters disappeared, replaced moments later by a blue dolphin humanoid and a red bird humanoid. (600/800) (800/600)

"Hmph, and just what will those weaklings do against my all-powerful Macho Force?" Butterfly snickered mockingly. "You were better off with your weakling Elemental Heroes, because at least they had attack and defense worth talking about."

"Attack and defense aren't everything!" Judai motioned to his Air Hummingbird, which was kneeling in defense position on his field. "Honeysuckle!" His monster leapt up into the air and floated over the UNSS agent's field, where there were three flowers that it stuck its beak into. "For every card in your hand I gain 500 life points."

Judai- 2700

Butterfly- 4000

"And then I activate this card, Fake Hero!" The named magic card appeared on Judai's field. "From my hand one Elemental Hero is special summoned!" A rainbow explosion of light roared down from the sky and formed into a familiar space-faring form. "Elemental Hero Neos is special summoned!" (2500/2000)

"I don't know anything about these Neospacians of yours, but I know about the power of Fake Hero." Butterfly flexed in the direction of Neos, his muscles bulging to life. "Even if your monster has muscles that can actually match these mighty cannons, he can't attack!"

Judai lifted up his hand, motioning to Neos and Aqua Dolphin. "Contact Fusion!" The two leap up into the depths of Neospace and disappeared. A few moments later a blue-skinned aquatic version of Neos appeared on his field. "Elemental Hero Aqua Neos is special summoned!" (2500/2000) "The effect of Neospace powers up Neos and Neos fusion monsters by 500 points!" (3000/2000)

"It doesn't matter," Butterfly's Rough Man smirked along with its master. "Once per turn Rough Man can negate the damage you could deal me!"

"Just because I can't attack your field this turn doesn't mean I can't attack your hand!" The last card in Judai's hand was inserted into his graveyard, showing itself to have been an Elemental Hero. "The special ability of Aqua Neos is that when I discard a card from my hand two cards at random will be discarded from yours! Echo Burst!" Two beams of golden light shot from Aqua Neos' eyes and hit a pair of cards in the Apprentice Agent's hand, making them disappear. "With that I end my turn."

Butterfly glanced down at the cards in his hand and frowned in displeasure. "You cowardly kid, daring to attack my hand instead of fight me up front." Then he drew. "It doesn't matter though, because the effect of Glittering Pose ends!" Tough Guy and Big Shot, who had been sitting on the sidelines of the field, ran back into play. (1800/800) (1500/500)

"And now, it's time to brush your bizarre monster aside." A magic card appeared on his field and Rough Man suddenly was glowing, muscles glistening with droplets of sweat. "I equip my monster with the power of A Man's Blood and Sweat. Rough Man attacks Aqua Neos!" His equipped monster charged at the superhero and collided with it. "I activate the effect of Rough Man, negating the damage!" The two, after exchanging punches, returned to their owner's fields. "When a monster with A Man's Blood and Sweat battles with an opponent's monster, the opposing monster is destroyed after battle has concluded!" Aqua Neos shattered, leaving Judai with only Air Hummingbird to defend himself with. "If my equipment magic card destroys a monster of yours then you may draw one card though."

Judai drew, but the look on his face said that he knew it was only a minor condolence for losing such a powerful monster.

"And now Big Shot attacks Air Hummingbird!" Butterfly's next Macho Force charged in and punched the Neospacian, sending it flying off into the depths of Neospace with the hit.

"Tough Guy, direct attack!" The third of the Macho Force monsters rushed in and kicked Judai in the face with his boot, sending the Hero Duelist rolling backwards. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Judai- 900

Butterfly- 4000

While Judai was slowly getting up, Butterfly flexed again. His monsters quickly followed the action, little sparkles of light appearing around all four of them. "This is the power of a Soul Force deck. It is a deck born from my soul and with it I most certainly won't lose to common cards!"

"That's fine," Judai whispered out as he stood up, before lifting his head to reveal his smile. "The Neospacians aren't common cards. You can keep going on and on about your superiority compared to others, but the truth of the matter is that if a duelist trusts in their heart, their cards, and their determination…then nothing is impossible!"

_To be continued…_

_The duel between Judai and Butterfly rages on, with the 'might' of Macho Force colliding with the power of the Neospacians. Meanwhile…where did Ichigo go?_

_Next Chapter: Vs. Butterfly; A man's duel_


	6. Vs Butterfly

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh GX. I do own Ichigo, Masami, and some other stuff, but that's beside the point.

Shifting Generations Saga

Chapter 6: Vs. Butterfly; A man's duel

"_That's fine," Judai whispered out as he stood up, before lifting his head to reveal his smile. "The Neospacians aren't common cards. You can keep going on and on about your superiority compared to others, but the truth of the matter is that if a duelist trusts in their heart, their cards, and their determination…then nothing is impossible!"_

"Draw!" Judai pulled a card from his deck, looking worried despite his smile just moments before. "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode." A block-bodied superhero appeared on his field in a crouching position. (800/2000) "Also I'll set one card face-down. End turn."

"Is that all you have left?" Butterfly drew. "The effect of Big Shot makes him immune to targeting traps, while Tough Guy is immune to your magic cards." He pointed at Clayman. "As for Rough Man, I'm sure that needs no explanation! A Man's Blood and Sweat Strike!" The burly man monster ran across the field and slammed into Clayman. "I negate the damage, and leave the rest to my equipment magic card!"

Judai frowned as Clayman shattered. ("If the card I draw isn't a good one this duel is over.") His hand shot out and grabbed the top card of his deck.

"Big Shot, direct attack!" Butterfly's 50s man charged straight at Judai. "This is the end!"

"Reverse card open! A Hero Emerges!" Judai's set card flipped up and he grinned. "You select one card from my hand, and if it's a monster its special summoned."

The single card in his hand flipped over to show the last thing that Butterfly wanted to see. "Elemental Hero Edgeman!" The bladed gold superhero appeared on Judai's field flashily, standing between Big Shot and its master. (2600/1800)

"That's….you…" The Apprentice Agent sadly slid the card he had drawn into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Judai drew and held the card up. "It's time for my counterattack! I activate the magic card Pot of Greed, drawing two cards from my deck." One of the two cards he drew was thrown down onto his disk and a blue-yellow superhero appeared on his field in a blast of lightning. "Come out now, Sparkman!" (1600/1400)

"Plus I activate this!" Judai's other card started glow as he held it up. "Right Justice destroys a magic or trap card in play for every Elemental Hero under my control!" Two of Butterfly's set cards exploded.

The UNSS Apprentice Agent suddenly panicked as he remembered what those cards were. ("My defense traps!")

"Sparkman attacks Big Shot, Spark Flash!" Judai's newly summoned superhero leapt into the air and released a blast of lightning from its hand that hit the 50s Macho Force and blew it apart.

Judai- 900

Butterfly- 3900

"Edgeman attacks Tough Guy, Power Edge Attack!" Judai's grin grew wider as his mightiest non-fusion hero crashed into and through another of the Macho Force monsters, blowing it apart. "End turn!"

Judai- 900

Butterfly- 3100

While Judai was growing more and more confident, Butterfly's confidence was suffering. "You annoying brat…" He snapped the top card off of his deck and after glancing at it momentarily inserted it into his disk. "I place one card face-down on my field and end my turn." Another magic/trap card shimmered into existence alongside his remaining on after Right Justice's destruction of two of them.

"It's my turn, draw!" Judai glanced at the drawn card and his smile faded a little. ("I guess I can't be on a roll the whole duel.") "Sorry Sparkman, but it looks like we're going to have to charge in full force! Attack Rough Man now! Spark Flash!" The weaker of the two heroes nodded and launched forwards, releasing a lightning blast that Rough Man took without flinching.

"The effect of A Man's Blood and Sweat activates now!" Butterfly sneered as Sparkman exploded. "Was it worth sacrificing one of your apparently precious heroes just to draw a card?"

"You think that's why I did that!" Judai shouted right before he drew and pointed at Rough Man. "Edgeman attacks Rough Man! Power Edge Attack!" The gold-armored superhero roared in and slashed right through Rough Man with no problems. "It's like I thought…"

Judai- 900

Butterfly- 1800

("He saw through the fact I can only use my equipment magic card's effect once per turn!") Butterfly gulped in surprise. "That….that was just a lucky guess!"

"From my hand," Judai wasn't going to even acknowledge such a weak excuse. "I activate the magic card Exchange of Hero." Removing his deck from its slot, he fanned the cards out in front of him and quickly found the only one of two remaining choices. "I send one Elemental Hero from my deck to my graveyard. My choice is Wildman."

After inserting the card into his graveyard he pulled out a different one. "Afterwards I select one Elemental Hero in my graveyard and shuffle it back into my deck." Flipping the card up to show Bubbleman, he added it to his deck and then returned the stack of cards to his disk. "Now I draw one card. End turn."

("If I don't draw a good card from my deck…") Butterfly drew and visibly relaxed at the sight of the card. "I activate Tenraikyoka Taira! For every card in my graveyard, deck, hand, and field I gain 100 life points!" A white glow appeared around him momentarily. "End turn."

Judai- 900

Butterfly- 7000

"Wow…" Judai understood why Manjyome and Ichigo had sounded so amazed when they had spoken about the Tenraikyoka. "That's really good…" He drew regardless, since it seemed like his opponent was just running scared now. "Edgeman, direct attack!"

Butterfly's relaxed expression suddenly became dark and confident. "Thanks, kid." His face-down cards flipped up together. "First my Last Resort trap card triggers when you attack me. From my deck one field magic card is activated, and if you have a field magic card in play then you draw once."

Judai gasped as his Duel Disk spat out Neospace. ("So he was just acting scared?") Drawing a card, he brought his hand size up to four. "And you're selecting which field magic card?"

"A Man's Battlefield!" Butterfly laughed as the rainbow aura of Neospace faded, replaced by an echoingly glittery fighting ring. "My other card is the real reason you should be afraid though….The Man's Appearance!" Three cards slid out of his graveyard. "I remove my three Macho Force monsters from my graveyard to bring him out…"

A spotlight appeared in the center ring, revealing a ten foot tall beast of a man dressed like a professional wrestler. "Macho Force The Big Kahuna!" (2500/2200) "The effect of A Man's Battlefield is that when a Macho Force monster on my field is attacked it gains 100 attack and defense points during the damage step for every level star of the opposing monster!"

Judai paled and shot his hand up. "Edgeman withdraws his attack!" The superhero stopped its charge and floated back to his field. "I place two cards face-down and end my turn."

Butterfly drew and snapped the card up powerfully. "I activate Macho Muscle!" Big Kahuna flexed and his muscles exploded to life, gaining extra mass to the point of being ridiculous. "I equip one Macho Force monster in my removed from play pile to a Macho Force on my field, giving it the abilities of the removed monster as well as 300 extra attack points! My choice is Big Shot and his immunity to targeting traps!" (2800/2200)

"What!?" Judai gasped in surprise as the wrestler monster leapt across the field and locked Edgeman in a headlock, landing on top of it and shattering the hero easily. "I can't back down, even if my plans have been changed! Reverse cards open, Hero Counterattack and Hero Signal!"

He grabbed his deck and pulled the card he already had in mind free. "From my deck Bubbleman is special summoned!" The blue-armored superhero appeared in play in a crouching position. "Bubbleman's special ability activates…"

Judai- 700

Butterfly- 7000

He drew twice and then held up his hand. "Hero Counterattack makes you select a card from my hand when an Elemental Hero on my field is destroyed as a result of battle. If that card is an Elemental Hero then it is special summoned and a monster on your field is destroyed. If it isn't then it goes to the graveyard!"

"I choose the card on the far right!" Butterfly snickered as Judai flipped the card over to reveal Elemental Hero Neos. "What will such a monster do for you, and your trap can't affect Big Kahuna!"

"I know that!" Judai slapped the selected card onto his disk and Neos appeared on his field in a blast of rainbow light, landing in play in defense mode. (2500/2000) "It's my turn, draw!" One look at all of the cards in his hand told him that he couldn't anything this turn. "I set one card face-down and end my turn." A card appeared behind Neos and Bubbleman, both of them crouching defensively.

"Draw!" Butterfly snapped the drawn card up and Big Kahuna pulled a microphone out of nowhere, yelling incoherently into it at Neos. "A Man's Challenge lets me make the strongest monster on your field switch to attack mode. During your next turn it must attack me. Big Kahuna, attack Bubbleman!" The wrestler threw the microphone aside and ran at the armored superhero at full speed.

"Reverse card open!" One of Judai's set cards flipped up and a crackling barrier of energy appeared between the two monsters, blocking the charge of the Big Kahuna instantly. "Hero Barrier activates when an Elemental Hero on my field is the target of an attack. That attack is negated."

"That's fine," Butterfly mocked. "During the next turn your Neos will crash himself into my Big Kahuna and that will be the end! End turn!"

"That won't happen if I have anything to say about it!" Judai drew and snapped the card up. "Come out now, Neospacian Gran Mole!" The ground of the ring erupted upwards as a furry mole-humanoid with a drill bit around its head appeared in play. (900/300) "Neos and Gran Mole, Contact Fusion!" The two named monsters launched up into the sky and disappeared.

Moments later a version of Neos with dark green armor and a drill on one arm appeared on Judai's field with a bellowing battlecry. (2500/2000) "Elemental Hero Gran Neos is special summoned!"

"Another of those strange monsters…" Butterfly frowned at the newly summoned superhero. "And this one does?"

"Once per turn I can return a monster on your field to your hand!" Judai pointed at Big Kahuna. "Linear Soul!" A hole opened up in the sky above them, a powerful pull coming from it and reaching for the wrestler monster.

"The effect of Big Kahuna activates now!" The Apprentice Agent smirked as Gran Neos shuddered and exploded violently. "The effect of my monster lets me pay 1000 life points and let you draw a card to negate your targeting effect and destroy the effect card!"

Judai- 700

Butterfly- 6000

"So I can't beat it that easily huh?" Judai drew and looked at the card. ("Wait a second…this card…") His mind flashed back to yesterday night…

-------------------------------

_Ichigo grinned as he looked at the six Neospacians and Neos, all of them sitting on the desk in front of him. "These are the real deal…different than the ones Erian has…"_

"_What was that?" Judai asked from the other side of the room._

"_Oh nothing." The still-hiding his identity half-demon pulled out his deck-box and removed a couple of cards from it. ("He'll thank me later…") He slid the cards underneath Neos carefully before gathering the cards together and shuffling them back into Judai's deck._

_From across the room Judai lifted his eyebrows as he watched Ichigo do this. ("What card did he put in there?")_

----------------------------------

("This is the card he inserted into my deck…though I still don't understand where Ichigo could get such a card.") "It looks like I'll get a chance to test something interesting…" He held up his drawn card. "The effect of Neospacian Crystal Moth is that during the turn that a monster with Elemental Hero Neos in its title is destroyed I can special summon it from my hand to the field!" A crystal moth humanoid appeared on his field alongside Bubbleman. (400/900)

Judai had already tried talking to this Neospacian but it didn't wish to speak with him, and that meant that it didn't come directly from Neospace. He wasn't sure where Ichigo had gotten a Neospacian card, but he had forgotten to return it after finding out what it was. "I won't forget this time. For now though, I'll take this chance! From my hand I activate Reverse of Neos!" A blast of rainbow light erupted from his deck and Neos appeared in play. "This card can only be activated during a turn that a Neos fusion monster has been destroyed. I special summon Neos from my deck and power it up by 1000 points!" (3500/3000)

"What will you do, hmmm?" Butterfly smirked. "Even powered up Neos can't take down my Big Kahuna, and even if he tried the equipped Big Shot would be destroyed instead! You can't win!"

"Be quiet and let me show just how I will win in this turn!" Judai motioned to Crystal Moth, which was releasing a glittering powder from its wings onto the ground in front of him. "When Crystal Moth is in play and Neos is summoned a Crystal Neos Token comes into play!" (0/0) A crystal statue of Neos appeared on his field. "This token is considered to be Elemental Hero Neos, so here we go! Crystal Moth and Crystal Neos Token, Contact Fusion!"

A shining star of light fell from the sky, revealing a crystal-bodied version of Neos that lowered alongside the original. "Elemental Hero Crystal Neos is special summoned!" (2500/2000) "When Crystal Neos is summoned for every monster on my field a Crystal Target Token is special summoned to your field in attack mode!" Three blocks of raw crystal appeared on Butterfly's field. (0/0) "This is the end!"

"Is it?" Butterfly removed a card from his graveyard. "When you special summon a monster I remove the trap I discarded for Tough Guy's effect. It's a card called Flashy Fighter!"

His Big Kahuna struck a strange pose and pulled another microphone out of nowhere, yelling into it at the three E-Heroes on Judai's field. "During this turn all monsters currently on your field cannot attack as long as Big Kahuna remains in play! Hahahahaha, you fell for it!"

"Fell for it?" Judai suddenly grinned widely. "Sorry, but the only person losing here is you! From my hand I activate Miracle Fusion, removing Flame Wingman and Sparkman from my graveyard!" An explosion of green light flooded the ring as an almost mecha-like version of Flame Wingman lowered into play. "Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman is special summoned!" (2500/2100) "For every Elemental Hero in my graveyard Shining Flare Wingman gains 300 attack points!" (5200/2100)

"What!?" Butterfly gasped…and then remembered the other effect of Macho Muscle. "Even though you've done this, you can't win! It can't destroy Big Kahuna!"

"I'm not done!" The last card in Judai's hand was flipped over and his Shining Flare Wingman arched back its fist to strike. "Hero Heart lets me cut the original attack of an Elemental Hero in half to let it attack twice during a battle phase!" (3950/2100) "Shining Flare Wingman attacks Big Kahuna! Shining Shooter!" The superhero threw a powerful torrent of green energy that hit the wrestler and pushed him back on his heels. (3600/2200)

Judai- 700

Butterfly- 5750

"And now, Shining Flare Wingman…" Judai pointed at the weakened Big Kahuna. "Shining Shooter!" The superhero released another powerful blast of green energy that crashed into the wrestler, this time overwhelming him and blowing him apart. (3300/2200)

Judai- 700

Butterfly- 5100

"When Shining Flare Wingman destroys a monster as a result of battle you take that monster's attack in damage!" Shining Flare Wingman landed in front of Butterfly and released a powerful glowing blast of energy that hit him head-on.

Judai- 700

Butterfly- 2600

"And now for the finish! Neos attacks a Crystal Target Token, Lance of Neos!" The supercharged space hero launched in and punched one of the blocks of crystal, shattering it and hitting Butterfly with the backlash.

Judai- 700

Butterfly- 0

As the smoke from the overwhelming number of powerful attacks cleared, it revealed Butterfly kneeling and clenching the wild grass at his feet with his hand. "I lost to some kid…how…how…"

"Where's Sho!?" Judai shuffled up his deck and pointed at him. "Tell me, since I won!"

"There is a cave near the top of the mountain at the center of the island…it will be easy to find…" The Apprentice Agent punched the ground, barely holding his rage back. "Now go!"

"Thanks Mustache Guy!" The Hero Duelist and ran in the direction indicated. "I'm coming Sho!"

-----------------------------------------

"Wow," Bathed in the dim light of the lanterns hanging from the ceilings of the cavern, Tortoise laughed at the small television-like device in front of him. "So that's a Neospacian huh? Pretty smooth, Judai-kun…"

Alongside his sat a small laptop that was currently a very strange program. The only thing happening on the screen was that there was a list of names in some kind of order, and two names seemed to be heading towards the top of the list slowly.

"Hmmm….Ichigo is at about 290, and Judai is at about 320…" Yawning loudly, the UNSS Agent lounged deeper into his extra-comfy chair. "That's pretty nice, especially when you consider their ages and the fact that the higher of them doesn't even have a Soul Deck."

The stats on the screen alongside their names were still fluctuating though. ("This isn't an exact system, considering how portable it has to be. Still though, all things considered…") He kicked his feet up onto the foot-stool in front of him, while deeper in the cavern the sounds of cries for help from the kid they captured reached his ears. "Sheesh, Tadpole…go see what's eating him please?"

"Yes Tortoise-san." The Apprentice Agent, who had been silently standing off to the side, walked off towards the impromptu holding cell they had established.

Eyes back to the laptop, Tortoise smiled in amazement. ("320…pretty good compared to Butterfly's 200. For an untrained kid to have such a score…") Even if there was an error in the reading, it still gave a general idea of the difference between the two. "I wonder if he'd want to join the UNSS?"

It wasn't a particularly funny joke, but he chuckled anyway.

--------------------------------------

Masami walked out of the auditorium, not even looking where he was going. "Where do you think those two went off to?"

"Without a doubt after those UNSS members, I bet." Manjyome pointed up at the top of the mountain. "Earlier today, during breakfast, I saw a helicopter heading towards the top of there. Odds are that is where they are. Should we go?"

The self-proclaimed genius shrugged. "Do you have anything better to do since you spent your last class period for the day in that auditorium?"

"I suppose not." The black-haired boy smiled ruthlessly. "Besides, I wonder if I'm going to get a chance to duel one of those UNSS members again."

"Maybe…" Masami gave a quirky smile and walked off in the direction of the mountain. "Unless I get to them first."

_To be continued…_

_While Judai was dueling Butterfly, Ichigo ran into his own troubles as the sharpshooter Coyote shows up to repay the earlier injuring of his hand. Can the half-demon win against an opponent that is probably more skilled than Butterfly?_

_Next Chapter: Eruption of Time; Rush Chaser Appears_


	7. Eruption of Time

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh GX.

Shifting Generations Saga

Chapter 7: Eruption of Time; Rush Chaser Appears

_A half an hour preceding the incident with Judai, meaning it occurs at roughly the same time the duel against Butterfly began…_

-------------------------------

Tortoise sat in silence, the laptop next to him silently waiting for either Coyote or Butterfly to engage either of the two subjects. ("Yuki Judai or Ichigo Pilkington, which of the two will find their opponent first?")

Sitting on the small wooden end-table next to him was a strange black-faced card. After a moment it released a faint purple pulse, as if it was trying to get his attention.

The UNSS Agent glanced at the card and frowned in displeasure before picking it up and holding it up in front of his face. ("This is the weapon that thousands of Shadow Duelists across the world would kill each other for. An item which has different effects depending on the one using it, but no matter what they will become stronger because of it.") The card's face shimmered again and he sighed, placing it back on the end-table. "How troublesome that we live in a world where things such as you exist…"

On the television monitor an image appeared, showing Ichigo and Coyote standing across from each other in the middle of a clearing somewhere within the depths of Duel Academy's forests.

"I wonder…" Tortoise mused. "What a kid like you, who has a Soul Shadow deck, would do with one of these deadly cards under your control…Ichigo Pilkington."

An image of the currently deadly serious boy's face appeared framed in the television screen. "The Douten Iai… or **Kontan shigekizai…or if you wanted to stick to English you could just call it what we down at the UNSS refer to as 'A Draw Drive.' What would you do if you had access to this kind of power, I wonder?"**

**-----------------------------------------------**

"Duel!" Coyote and Ichigo both drew from their decks at the same time, the latter having a smile on his face while the former looked angered that this insolent kid would dare to enjoy this duel.

Ichigo- 4000

Coyote- 4000

"It's my turn, draw!" The half-demon looked at his drawn card and his smile disappeared. ("Hmmm, it looks like I'll have to do something unpleasant during the first turn.") "I activate the magic card Stage of Introduction!" A giant red-curtained stage appeared between their fields. "Both you and I select a level four monster from our deck and special summon it!"

A crouching shield-holding warrior appeared on his field. (0/1500) "I summon Final Shadow Shield Guardian in defense mode!"

Coyote tossed a card onto his disk and a black-leathered cowboy appeared in play on his field. "I'll summon my Gun Shadow Quickdraw in defense mode!" (800/1300)

("Gun Shadows…") Ichigo wondered what this kind of Soul Shadow deck did as opposed to his. "I activate the magic card Infinite Pulse! This card allows me to special summon one Infinity named monster from my hand to the field, but at the end phase of my turn any Chaser named monster is returned to my deck from play."

The card that appeared behind his Shield Guardian started to glow. "From my hand Infinity Chaser is special summoned!" A bolt of dark blue light fell down from the sky and crashed into play alongside his Shield Guardian, forming into the metallic shell of his representation. (2000/1000)

"Also…" He threw a card onto his disk and a golden liquid metal humanoid appeared on his field in a crouching position. "I summon Infinity Traveler Reverse Runner in defense mode!" (300/1200) "Reveres Runner lets me discard a card from my hand to return a card I have played this turn to my hand!" He discarded a card and held up Stage of Introduction. "And now I'll activate this baby again! So come on, make a choice!"

Coyote tossed a card onto his disk and another black-leathered cowboy appeared on his field in a crouching position. "I'll choose another Quickdraw!" (800/1300)

Ichigo threw a card onto his disk and a bulky semi-humanoid robot appeared on his field in a crouching position alongside Shield Guardian. "I special summon Robot Minion!" (1500/1000)

"You've been summonin' all these monsters…" Coyote suddenly sneered, his right hand twitching a little. "To what end though? Summoning a ton of monsters ain't gonna save ya!"

"Reverse Runner and Infinity Chaser…" The two monsters Ichigo named faded away and he held up a six-sided die he had removed from his pocket. "Remove themselves from the game instead of Contact Fusing. I roll a die, and depending on the number it will determine how long until the fusion comes out." Releasing the cube, he watched it bounce along the dirt and come to a stop with three dots facing the sky. "Three…" His hand shot out and he pulled the top three cards off of his deck, adding them to his back pocket with his other monsters. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw!" Coyote held up a magic card. "I activate my Pot of Greed, drawing two cards from my deck." Then he motioned at his two Quickdraws, which suddenly faded away. "When I draw a card or cards outside my battle phase Quickdraw goes to the graveyard, dealing you 300 points of damage and letting me draw a card!"

Ichigo- 3400

Coyote- 4000

"From my hand…" He threw another card down and a new cowboy appeared in play. "I summon Gun Shadow Gunslinger!" (1200/1200) "Also I activate the equipment magic card End-Life Bazooka!" A heavy metal weapon appeared over the cowboy's shoulder. "For every monster ya'll have in play I discard a card from my hand. " He discarded two cards and his monster aimed the weapon at Ichigo's field. "Disappear, ya annoyin' toys!"

Ichigo barely heard this over the roar of the bazooka as it fired, the blast slamming into his field and instantly obliterating his two monsters. ("Well that stinks…")

"I'll set one card face-down and end my turn." The Apprentice Agent snickered at Ichigo's single set card. "I guess that didn't help ya out at all, did it?"

"Reverse card open!" Ichigo's set card flipped up and a card slid out of his graveyard. "I activate the trap card Security Plan, setting one continuous trap card from my graveyard face-down on my field." He inserted the graveyard card into his disk.

"Draw!" Ichigo switched the drawn card to his other hand and fumbled around in his back pocket, pulling out the five removed cards he had. "At this time the effect of the still non-existent fusion monster is that I place one random removed from play card into my hand during my standby phase." He shuffled the cards up, drew one, and then returned the stack to his back pocket.

"And now…" The half-demon inserted two cards into his disk and they appeared face-down on his field. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Draw!" Coyote held up the drawn card with a smug smile on his face. "I'll be activatin' Magic Purge now!"

"Magic…" Ichigo gasped as a soft white light blasted across the field. "That means…"

"That means that your fusion ain't comin' out no more!" The Apprentice Agent pointed at Ichigo. "Direct attack!" His monster dropped the bazooka, pulled out his revolver, and fired a couple of bullets that pierced Ichigo's body.

Ichigo- 2200

Coyote- 4000

"I'll end my turn there." Coyote saw no need to punish the boy any more than that for right now. ("After all, with the card I'm still holdin' he won't be able to win against me!")

Ichigo shook off the pain from the holographic bullets and drew. "You stopped the summoning of that particular fusion…but there's a downside to your little effect." He held up the drawn card. "I still have that fusion monster in my removed from play pile! From my hand I activate the magic card Twins of Time! If Infinity Chaser, Reverse or Forward Runner, and the appropriate fusion is in my removed from play pile then I return them all to my hand…excluding the fusion which returns to my fusion deck." Now he was holding two cards. "I summon Reverse Runner in defense mode and end my turn." The golden humanoid appeared on his field in a crouching position. (300/1200)

"Draw!" Coyote discarded a card from his hand and his monster loaded the bazooka. "Get that annoying thing off my field!" Then it fired and blew the Infinity Traveler to bits. "And once again yer…"

"This time," One of Ichigo's set cards flipped up. "I was ready for your effect! Infinity Geocrystal Formation activates now!" The card remained in play, meaning it was a continuous trap. "Whenever an Infinity Traveler is destroyed, depending on the way it happened, a number of Infinity Gem Tokens come out! Since my monster was destroyed by a card effect, two come out!" A pair of rainbow crystals appeared on his field. (0/0)x2

------------------------

Tortoise kicked his feet up onto the foot-stool in front of the couch and pushed his cap up a little. "Wow, what a weird deck…he actually tried mixing an entirely different set of monsters in with his Soul Deck…" Most sane people wouldn't try that…but something about this guy's dueling reminded him of someone else. ("Oh yeah, it's like that one guy…")

He leaned forward to get a better look at Ichigo's face. "Could you be related to him, Puffy-kun?"

--------------------------

"And now," Ichigo drew and held the drawn card up. "I activate Touch of Humanity!" One of the two Gem Tokens exploded open and a flaming humanoid appeared on his field. "By sacrificing an Infinity Gem Token on my field I can special summon an Infinity Traveler from my deck to the field! My choice is Infinity Traveler Inferno Brawler!" (0/100)

"And now," One of his two remaining face-down cards flipped up, revealing a picture of Infinity Chaser in its crouching position landing in the midst of a battlefield. "Infinity Savior is a continuous trap card that activates when an Infinity Traveler is special summoned to my field! From my deck or hand Infinity Chaser is special summoned!" An explosion of dark blue light filled his field as the robot materialized once again. (2000/1000)

"And now…" He snapped his hand up and the two monsters launched up into the sky, disappearing. "Come out now, Final Shadow Inferno Chaser!" A fireball plummeted down to his field, forming into the flame-striped orange and red robot. (2000/1000) "At this time Touch of Humanity activates its effect. When a Contact Fusion between Infinity Chaser and an Infinity Traveler occurs the card returns to my hand!" Grabbing the returned card he pointed at the Gun Shadow. "Attack now!"

"Reverse card open!" Coyote's set card flipped up and his monster suddenly was aiming at the rapidly approaching Inferno Chaser. "Quick Shot lets me activate the effect of any equipment card on my monster at this time! I discard two cards from my hand to destroy your monsters!" The bazooka belched out a blast of fire that crashed into the robot, swallowing up the rest of Ichigo's field in flames as well. "With that…"

"With that what?" The flames suddenly were violently blown away as Inferno Chaser emerged from them. "I activate the trap card Crystal Shell. This card equips to an Infinity monster on my field and is destroyed in place of it!"

Coyote's monster screamed in pain as Inferno Chaser locked its arms around him, becoming red-hot. After a few moments the Gun Shadow exploded and the backlash of heat slammed into the Apprentice Agent.

Ichigo- 2200

Coyote- 2000

Ichigo's monster returned to his field and sprayed a jet of boiling steam from its back. "There is a downside to Infinity Savior, which is at the end phase of my turn all monsters on my field are destroyed." Inferno Chaser exploded...and three rainbow crystals appeared on Ichigo's field. "Whoops, did I forget to mention that Infinity Geocrystal Formation gives me three Tokens when a Chaser is destroyed by a card effect?" (0/0)x3

"You damn annoying brat…" Coyote drew. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn." A pair of cards appeared on his field, his face expressing what he was feeling like now, extreme anger.

"Draw!" Ichigo held up Touch of Humanity and one of the tokens shattered, a prismatic humanoid landing on his field. "I summon Infinity Traveler Null Entity! And now…" A card popped out of his deck and he threw it down, Infinity Chaser appearing in play alongside Null Entity. (2000/1000) (100/200)

"…and that means…" Coyote clenched his teeth tighter as he realized what was coming. "You bastard…"

"Aww, don't be sore about it…" Ichigo removed Touch of Humanity from his graveyard and added it to his hand as the two monsters launched into the air. A few moments later the monochromatic colors of Negation Chaser could be seen as it appeared. (2000/1000) "Negation Chaser activates its effect now!" He discarded a card from his hand and pointed at one of Coyote's set cards. "Negation Core!" The card shuddered and became black and white. "Direct attack!"

"Reverse card open!" The Apprentice Agent's other card flipped up. "I activate the quickplay magic card Emergency Casting! From my hand one non-quickplay magic card is activated!" He flipped the card over and snickered as a powerful black hole appeared in the sky, releasing a blast of energy that hit Ichigo's field and blew his monsters apart. "Dark Hole destroys all monsters in play!"

Ichigo snapped his hand up and three new Infinity Gem Tokens appeared in play on his field. (0/0)x3 "End turn." His Infinity Savior card shimmered and the tokens shattered.

"Draw." Coyote was smiling now. "What's the matter, big man? Without your little Endless Contact loop you suddenly can't win?" He threw the card in his hand onto his disk and a new monster, this one a cowboy holding a pair of revolvers, appeared in play. "I summon Gun Shadow Rapid-Fire!" (1000/1000) "Rapid-Fire attacks directly!" His monster snapped its revolvers up and fired twice, the bullets blowing small clouds of dust into the air around Ichigo.

Ichigo- 1200

Coyote- 2000

"And now," Coyote slid his set card into his graveyard. "The effect of Rapid-Fire lets me send a card from my field to the graveyard to let it attack again!" The monster opened fire once more, creating another spray of dirt and dust on Ichigo's field. "And with that, I'll end my turn knowin' that there ain't a damn thing ya'll can do."

Ichigo- 200

Coyote- 2000

Ichigo sighed and brushed his pant legs off. "It seems…you're better than I thought." His smile returned and suddenly he was glowing a soft red color.

--------------------------

Tortoise lifted his eyebrows at the indicator on the laptop. ("His score just rose to 300? Yet again another interesting person…I've never seen someone that can change their score so instantly without outside help…")

---------------------------

"Draw!" Ichigo held the card up and grinned. "I activate the continuous magic card Crystal Pulse." The card appeared on his field and started glowing. "I summon an Infinity Gem Token to my field once per turn!" A new rainbow crystal appeared on his field. (0/0)

"...aww damn it…." Coyote paled as Touch of Humanity appeared on Ichigo's field and the crystal shattered, revealing a silver liquid-metal humanoid.

"This is Forward Runner…" Ichigo motioned to Infinity Savior and it started to glow. "Come out now Infinity Chaser!" Once more the dark blue form of his robot appeared in play on his field alongside his Infinity Traveler. "And now for the last move! Contact Fusion!"

The two monsters launched into the air and disappeared. Ichigo lifted his hand up and smiled as the field started to shimmer. "Let's take it to the future, shall we?"

Coyote blinked at the statement…and then gasped in surprise as his Rapid-Fire dissolved, as did the other cards on Ichigo's field. "What did ya'll do!?"

"Come out now, Rush Chaser!" The air in front of Ichigo shimmered and a silver-colored version of Infinity Chaser appeared in play, its slim body wreathed in a strange pulsing vibration. (2000/1000) "The effect of Rush Chaser is that when summoned all cards on our fields except for itself are removed from the game, and we draw one card per removed card. In other words…"

Coyote drew…and paled at what the card was. ("I can't use this…")

"Rush Chaser, direct attack! Time-Steam Crusher!" Ichigo's fusion disappeared momentarily, and Coyote was launched ten feet into the air as he was suddenly struck from four sides at once. When it returned to Ichigo's side he had crashed to the ground, unmoving.

Ichigo- 200

Coyote- 0

Ichigo turned off his Duel Disk and walked up to the fallen Coyote, standing over him and glaring angrily. "You guys are really low for resorting to kidnapping when your first dirty scheme didn't work."

The Apprentice Agent laughed weakly, unable to move because the damage to his body from that last attack had been too great. "It's not like we're supposed to play fair against somebody like you…"

"I'd ask why you guys have it out for me, but at the moment I don't care." He kneeled down, grabbing Coyote by the collar and hefting him up to eye-level. "Where's Sho?"

"The top of the mountain, in a cave. You should be able to find it fairly easily, since there will be a black helicopter up there." He smirked and leaned in a little closer. "Though I have to wonder whether you'll be able to beat an actual Agent…after all, they're the best…" He suddenly collapsed to the ground, and by the time he had propped himself up there was a long line of dust going from where Ichigo had been standing through the forest in the direction of the center mountain.

------------------------

"In a world filled with darkness…" A pair of spotlights cross-lit up a section of rock, revealing Masami standing atop it. "There was only one man capable of saving innocent lives. He was a great duelist, a mighty otaku, an even greater scientist, and above all else a hero. He was…" He started to turn, hand shooting up towards the sky dramatically…

"An idiot," Manjyome commented as he walked past the rock, ending the bizarre and unexplainable darkness effect that had appeared.

Masami stood perfectly still, a cold wind blowing by, and then he dropped off the rock. "Jerk, how dare you ruin my perfect heroic monologue!"

This forced Manjyome to stop, a vein bulging out of his forehead as he turned to face the self-proclaimed genius. "We're nearly at the top of the mountain, but there isn't anyone around! Who are you giving a monologue to!?"

"Psh, you know nothing about heroes apparently." Masami walked past him with his hands in his pockets. "A hero needs no audience to grandstand, it is their divine right."

"Are you stupid!? What part of you is a hero!?" Manjyome's question, unfortunately, was going to have to go unanswered, as just then someone appeared in front of them on the path. "So it's you."

"So it is." Tadpole lifted up his Duel Disk and smiled confidently. "My apologies gentlemen but neither of you will be passing this point unscathed. If you want to continue then defeat me in a duel."

"We don't have time for this," Masami continued his approach, undaunted. "Get out of our way, small fry."

"Small fry?" The man pulled a handgun out of his pocket and aimed it right at the green-haired boy's forehead. "Would you like me to place a bullet through that arrogant brain of yours?"

"You're welcome to try." Adjusting his glasses with a finger, Masami continued his approach. "I do brag, but in this case I'm quite serious. You will not be able to shoot me with that gun. My speed is quite close to a demon's…" Then they were both silent, a stand-off coming to be that left a strange feeling in the air.

Manjyome shivered a little bit, wondering who was going to flinch first. ("I need to get out of the way, or else I might get hit by a stray bullet…") He turned to see if there was any cover, and his eyes widened in surprise. "What in the…"

----------------------------

Tortoise adjusted his cap and yawned, pacing the open section of the cavern. "I wonder how long Tadpole will delay those two." Considering his skill level it should be a little while until they arrived. An explosion, followed by a spray of dirt and dust, came flying into the cavern from outside. "Hmmm?"

As the dust cleared, it revealed Ichigo, Judai, Masami and Manjyome all lying in a heap on the floor. They squirmed, kicking and bickering at each other until finally managing to separate themselves properly.

"Whew, I made it!" Ichigo sat down and took off his shoes, fanning the smoldering soles with his hand.

"Are you trying to get us killed!?" Manjyome and Masami both punched the back of his head at the same time. "What kind of person goes charging up the side of a mountain blindly!?"

Judai rubbed his butt for a moment before standing up and dusting himself off. "Good job Ichigo, you saved us some time." He gave the half-demon a thumbs-up, who grinned and returned the action.

"Don't praise him!" Manjyome and Masami yelled in unison angrily.

Tortoise yawned and adjusted his cap again. "So, what happened to Tadpole?"

---------------------------

Outside the cave, the Apprentice UNSS Agent twitched a couple of times, foot-prints on the back of his head and back of his suit. ("Medical Insurance…must…cover…this…")

----------------------------

"How the heck should I know?" Pulling his shoes back on Ichigo hopped to his feet and pointed at the UNSS Agent. "So are you the head guy?"

"That would be me." Tortoise smiled slightly at the grin that came across the faces of his two subjects. "You look kind of happy, but I suggest you consider the fact that I'm your enemy before jumping for joy."

"That's why they're so excited," Manjyome sighed and headed off towards the back of the cave. "Come on, Masami-_sama_, let's leave these idiots to enjoy themselves." A blast of air shot past his nose, hitting the rock wall next to him and leaving a foot-deep slash mark in its surface.

All four of them immediately went on the alert, eyes coming to Tortoise expecting to him holding some kind of strange weapon.

The Agent yawned once more and played with the card he had drawn off of his deck, flipping it around with his fingers. Other than this though, he didn't seem to be armed. "I wouldn't go back there yet if I were you. There's explosive wired to go off and bring the whole cavern down if you trigger the motion sensors, and since you don't know where they are it would be a pretty big gamble on all our sakes if you haphazardly walked into one."

"Then what do you want?" Manjyome Thunder stepped forward, his hand reaching into his pocket for his deck. "Is it a duel you want? If so then select your opponent, because between the three of us you won't find any weakness!"

"And," Masami stepped forward dramatically before glaring at Manjyome. "Why aren't you including me in the equation?"

"Enough," Tortoise yawned again, making the order sound more bored than authoritative. "You two aren't part of the equation right now. In fact…" He glanced at Manjyome and then Masami. "I'm not even sure if the two of you would be able to survive the initial start of a duel against me."

"What was that!?" The two offended students yelled at once, turning their anger towards him.

"Anyway," Tortoise had no intention of egging those two on anymore than necessary. "My targets are you two, Ichigo Pilkington and Yuki Judai. I'd like you both to duel me at the same time, since otherwise you won't stand a chance of winning."

"At the same time?" Judai pouted. "But I'm really strong…are you underestimating me or something?"

Ichigo frowned at the feeling he was getting from this situation. ("The hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end in this guy's prescense. What about him is setting me off?") "Judai, let's do it." He smiled, trying to make it seem like the fun thing to do. "We'll show these guys not to underestimate us!"

"Che, I guess so." The Hero Duelist, still pouting, activated his Duel Disk and inserted his deck into it.

Ichigo did the same, though his expression wasn't quite as disappointed. ("This guy is powerful, I can already tell that. I'd better play it safe and accept the handicap he's giving himself. While I don't doubt my abilities, something about him is telling me I need to be cautious.")

------------------

_I smell it…a chance…_

-------------------

"Duel!" All three of them shouted at once, the life point scores appearing over their heads.

Tortoise- 4000

Judai- 4000

Ichigo- 4000

"I'll take the first turn," Tortoise reached for the top card of his deck. "A little word of advice…please draw the top card of your decks at the same time as I do. Otherwise…" His lazy eyes momentarily grew rather dark. "The results might be a bit messy."

Judai found the request strange, but he prepared to do so.

"Draw!" Tortoise pulled the top card off of his deck strongly…

Judai did the same, and blinked in surprise as his hair was blown back by a sudden burst of wind. ("What was that? Where'd the breeze come from?") Returning the drawn card to his deck without looking at it, he noticed that Tortoise looked a little surprise. "Something the matter?"

"Indeed there is…" The Agent pointed at Ichigo, who was standing motionless. "Why didn't you draw at the same time as I did, Ichigo?"

"Because I wanted to confirm something…" The half-demon glanced down at his chest and the slash-shaped mark that went along his shirt and blazer perfectly in line with the arc Tortoise had drawn his card. Reaching under the slashed cloth, he pulled his hand back and narrowed his eyes. "No blood…"

He turned to look at the two smaller slash-marks in the wall a few feet behind him on both sides of his body. "Strong enough to indent rock, but not able to cut steel…I've never heard of someone's mere draw power being enough to do something like that…"

Manjyome twitched a couple of times before looking at the marks in the wall and then at Ichigo's chest. "So many questions…"

"I can't explain how this UNSS Agent just did that, but I can tell you why Ichigo is uninjured while that wall is now sporting some new body art." Masami adjusted his glasses casually. "Demon bodies are very dense compared to human bodies, nearly as difficult to pierce as steel in consistency. Hence why this strange technique had no effect on him."

"Who are you people?" Manjyome had no words to express how hard some of this was to belief. ("Demons, freaky super-geniuses, guys that can cut stone with the power of their card draws…")

Judai glanced at his own hand for a moment. "Why'd you aim at Ichigo only?"

"I didn't." Tortoise smiled slightly. "Believe it or not, you weakened my Killing Draw technique with your own draw power to the point that it couldn't injure you."

"…Huh?" Judai blinked at Tortoise, and then at his own hand again. "Wow…" He rolled his shoulders and brought his attention back to the dueling field. "Okay then, let's get this duel started!"

"Wow!? That's it!?" Manjyome pondered grabbing a nearby rock and throwing it at Judai's head to see if he was one of these Demons too. It would explain why he was so naturally dense, but in a different sense of the term.

"He's right." Ichigo smiled cheerfully. "While I'm rather interested as to how you managed to do something like that, I want to duel you more than ever now."

("320 and 290…a grand total of 610.") Tortoise added the drawn card to his hand before looking up at his two opponents calmly. ("Against my own 717 it will be a miracle if they can even push me far enough to use the Draw Drive.") "Here we go boys, let's see how long you last. Up to this point you've been dueling the minor players of the UNSS, against me though you'll quickly learn that this isn't little league anymore!"

_To be continued…_

_And so the duel against a real UNSS Agent begins. What is the basis of Tortoise's confidence? He's already seen how powerful his opponents are, and yet he seems more worried that they won't be enough a challenge rather than whether he can win or not. What secrets is his deck hiding, and just what exactly was the Draw Drive he was talking about? What about the numbers?_

_Next Chapter: Initiation to the Big Leagues (Part 1) _


	8. Initiation to the Big Leagues Part 1

Disclaimer: Awww forget it, you already know the rest.

Shifting Generations Saga

Chapter 8: Initiation to the Big Leagues (Part 1)

_("320 and 290…a grand total of 610.") Tortoise added the drawn card to his hand before looking up at his two opponents calmly. ("Against my own 717 it will be a miracle if they can even push me far enough to use the Draw Drive.") "Here we go boys, let's see how long you last. Up to this point you've been dueling the minor players of the UNSS, against me though you'll quickly learn that this isn't little league anymore!"_

--------------------------------

The relaxing hum of the helicopter's engine sent vibrations through the metallic hull of the vehicle. This low thrum was the only accompanying noise to the silence that held over the inside of the passenger section.

"Listen up!" Lord Beast swung his head around as he surveyed the UNSS Agents sitting in the seat rows. "This is a reconnaissance mission and nothing more. Tortoise is the only Agent that currently has permission to engage the subject and his associates, so if any of you step out of line I'll wring your neck!"

"Yes sir!" The Agents all saluted at once, obviously afraid of the man...or perhaps the round-bodied brown circle of hair on his head…

---------------------------------

"I'll be starting us off, boys." Tortoise placed his drawn card onto his disk and a pillar of shadow erupted onto his field. "I summon Slow Shadow Stasis Soul in defense mode." The pillar condensed into an entirely black-bodied featureless humanoid with a green S on its chest. (1500/1800) "While this monster is face-up in play you boys can only have one card set per turn."

Behind his monster a face-down card appeared, and then a continuous magic card next to that one. "I set one card face-down and activate the continuous magic card Kinetic Absorber. While this card is in play and you destroy a monster on my field as a result of battle, I gain half the destroying monster's attack in life. End turn."

"Draw!" Judai added the drawn card to his hand and held up a different one. "I summon Elemental Hero Featherman in defense mode!" The green-feathered superhero appeared on his field in a burst of wind, landing into a crouching position. (1000/1000) "I set a card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw!" Ichigo flipped the drawn card back against his palm and with the same hand grabbed a card from the other five he was holding. "I set one card face-down and activate this, the continuous magic card Shadow Guardian!" He reached amongst the other four cards in his hand and selected one, holding it up. "Final Shadow Void Mercenary is special summoned!" The muscular form of a helmeted Final Shadow appeared on his field in a crouching position. (1700/1600) "The effect of Shadow Guardian prevents me from normal summoning during that turn, and the monster summoned by it cannot switch to attack mode. However, the defense of the summoned monster is raised by 1000!" (1700/2600) "End turn."

("They are both trying to establish defenses because they see that I am intending to lock them down?") Tortoise shook his head sadly and drew. "You're both far to naïve if you think that your actions will stop me. From my hand I summon Slow Shadow Reflex Drainer!" Another featureless humanoid, this one with a red R on its chest, appeared in play alongside his Stasis Soul. (1900/1600) "Attack Featherman with Kinetic Dispersion!" The monster's chest letter started to glow brightly before releasing a red beam of light that crashed into the hero and destroyed it with a bang.

Amidst the smoke and destruction of his Elemental Hero, Judai felt apologetic towards Featherman. ("I don't like using you guys as just shields, but against an opponent like this we can't play around!") "Reverse card open, Hero Signal!" His set card flipped up and projected a brightly-colored H against the ceiling of the cavern. "Come out now, Bubbleman!" The blue-armored Elemental Hero appeared on his field in a blast of bubbles. (800/1200) "When Bubbleman is summoned and I have no other cards in play, I draw!" Adding two cards to his hand, he was about to smile until he suddenly felt weak all over. "Huh…"

The UNSS Agent sighed while Judai weakly dropped to his knees. "Just take a look at Reflex Drainer." The featureless monster had its right hand up and seemed to be pulling particles of light from Judai's body. "While he is in play you lose 500 life points whenever you activate a set card, and I gain 500 life points."

Tortoise- 4500

Judai- 3500

Ichigo- 4000

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the two Slow Shadows in understanding. ("An aggressive stall deck…") It was a type he'd played against a couple of times, but this was the first ever example of a Shadow Aggressive Stall deck.

"Other than that though, you're fine." Tortoise slid a card into his disk, a new set card appearing alongside his earlier one. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Shaking off the feeling of weakness that was trying to settle into his bones, Judai leapt to his feet and drew. "It's my turn, draw!" He glanced at the drawn card and smiled tightly. ("Glow Neos could destroy that Kinetic Absorber and attack his life points directly, but first I'll need to actually get Neos into play.") "I activate the magic card Emergency Call, adding one Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand. My choice is Neos!" He quickly searched his deck and held up the space-faring hero's card before shuffling it into his hand.

Too easy, he thought. Tortoise already knew what Judai intended to do. ("And Ichigo isn't even trying to fight as of yet, but then again we'll see what he has in store for me during the next turn.")

"I activate Bubble Shuffle!" Judai's held up magic card started to glow and he pointed at Reflex Drainer. "Bubbleman and one attack mode monster on your field switch modes!" Both monsters dropped to one knee as they switched to defense mode. "I can then sacrifice Bubbleman to summon an Elemental Hero from my hand to the field!" Bubbleman disappeared within a swirling pillar of energy, and from within that same pillar erupted the mighty form of Neos. (2500/2000)

("Yes!") Ichigo grinned at the superhero as it lowered into place on Judai's field. ("With Neos in play we can pull this off!") His attention switched over to the Kinetic Absorber card. "As long as that card's in play our chances of winning this duel quickly are pretty slim."

"Leave it to me!" Judai threw another card onto his disk and a softly-glowing green humanoid appeared on his field. "I summon Neospacian Glow Moss in attack mode!" (300/900) "Contact…"

"You young people are so impatient…" Tortoise's set card flipped up and a strange glowing net appeared over ceiling above the entire dueling field. "I activate Fusion Prohibition Area. While this continuous trap remains in play players cannot fusion summon."

"What!?" Ichigo and Judai both had looks on their face showing that they absolutely hated that card. "That's too cheap!"

"Cheap or not, it's the card I put into my deck to counter you boys." The UNSS Agent shrugged his shoulders innocently. "Come now, did you think I'd be playing completely unprepared against you both?"

"Well that still won't stop me!" Judai snapped up one of his hand cards and Neos started to glow with a bright rainbow aura. "I activate the equipment magic card Neos Force, powering Neos up by 800 points!" (3300/2000) "Neos, attack Reflex Drainer!" The superhero launched across the field and punched the humanoid in the chest, shattering it with a powerful blast of energy. "When Neos destroys your monster the effect of Neos Force activates, dealing you the attack of your monster in damage to your life points!" Neos released a powerful rainbow glow that enveloped the UNSS Agent, sucking away his life points.

Tortoise- 2600

Judai- 3500

Ichigo- 4000

"Irritating, but you seem to have forgotten the power of my Kinetic Absorber." Tortoise snapped his hand up and his continuous magic card released a thrumming pulse that surrounded him. "Half of your Neos' 3300 attack points are now added to my life points."

Tortoise- 4250

Judai- 3500

Ichigo- 4000

"I didn't forget, but at least I got rid of one of your monsters!" Judai pointed at Glow Moss, which lifted up its hands to reveal a trio of different colored orbs floating around its palm. "At this time the effect of Glow Moss activates now! You look at the top card of your deck and depending on what type of card it is will decide what effect Glow Moss gains! Also, you may choose to add the card to your hand. If you don't then I discard the top two cards of my deck to the graveyard."

Tortoise pulled the top card of his deck free and held it up. "Gravity Bind, a trap card. I choose to add it to my hand."

The red orb amongst the three Judai's monster was holding lit up and the Neospacian dropped to its knees. "Instead of battling Glow Moss switches to defense mode." He slid a card into his disk and it appeared face-down on his field. "I set one card face-down. At the end phase of my turn Neos Force is returned to my deck." He pulled the equipment magic card out of its slot and shuffled it into his deck before nodding to Ichigo.

"Draw!" The half-demon added the card to his hand and frowned at what he had so far. ("Nothing in here will help against this guy's Slow Shadows, but I can't give up here.") "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

"It seems that you two still think winning is an option at your current levels of skill, unfortunately that's rather false or else I would at least been forced to use one of my set cards." Tortoise drew and motioned to one of his set cards, which opened to reveal a familiar trap card. "I'm sure you boys know what Call of the Haunted does, correct?" A pillar of shadow erupted from the ground and his Reflex Drainer appeared in play once more. (1900/1600)

"And now for the real fun to begin." He held up a magic card with a very memorable white mark on it. "Tenraikyoka Uchitoru Wake allows me to draw the top card of my deck. Depending on what type it is will determine what it does." Pulling the top card of his deck free, he flipped it up for them both to see. "It's a monster, Slow Shadow Drag Divider! This card, when drawn, is discarded to my graveyard."

While it slid into his graveyard slot Tenraikyoka Uchitoru Wake released a white glow. "If the drawn card is a monster then my opponent's face-up monsters in play are all destroyed." A trio of white crescents exploded from the magic card on his field, slashing through Neos, Glow Moss, and Void Mercenary with enough force to disintegrate them all. "For every monster destroyed my opponents draw a card though."

Ichigo snarled and drew one card before sliding Shadow Guardian into his graveyard, while Judai drew twice.

"And now the effect of Drag Divider activates." Tortoise pointed at their hands. "Both of you discard a card."

Judai frowned and slid a trap into his graveyard, while Ichigo did the same.

("Exactly as I thought.") The UNSS Agent's motioned to his other set card, which flipped open. "I activate the trap card Realistic Consequences, which activates when my opponent discards a card from their hand. They must now send one of the same type of card from their field to their graveyard."

Judai had no choice but to drop his Negate Attack into the graveyard, while Ichigo sent his Inside Agent trap card into the grave.

"Stasis Soul switches to attack mode and my monsters attack you directly, Judai." Tortoise's two Slow Shadows released a pair of beams from their chest letters, the blasts crashing into the Hero Duelist and throwing him to his back. A deep groan of pain came from his clenched teeth and his body trembled a bit before he managed to stand up.

"Judai!" Manjyome shouted, his teeth clenched but for different reasons.

Masami pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a finger before looking over at Tortoise. ("What is the UNSS, I wonder.)

Tortoise- 4250

Judai- 100

Ichigo- 4000

"I place two cards face-down and end my turn." A pair of cards appeared set on the Agent's field, after which he adjusted his cap. "I hope you can still fight Judai, because I'm just getting warmed up. After all, don't you want to defend Ichigo? You boys might be protecting a threat to our world's safety, but if you're going to commit yourselves to a cause follow through the whole way."

"Who ever said," Despite the pain wracking his nerves and body, Judai found the willpower to stand up to his full height. "That I was beaten?" Drawing from his deck, he held the card up. "I activate the magic card Combat Contact, discarding Neospacians Aqua Dolphin and Black Panther to my graveyard, after which I draw a card and then cards equal to the number of monsters you have in play!" Adding three cards to his hand, he nodded at what he saw there. ("With this I can strike back against this guy!")

"I summon Neospacian Air Hummingbird in attack mode!" Judai's red-feathered Neospacian appeared in play with a flutter of its wings. (800/600) "Air Hummingbird's special ability is that for every card in your hand I gain 500 life points! Honeysuckle!" The bird alien flew into the air and released a soft green glow that healed Judai's life points by 1000.

Tortoise- 4250

Judai- 1100

Ichigo- 4000

"And now I activate the magic card Neos Energy, powering up Air Hummingbird by 800 points!" A bright glow fell over Air Hummingbird as it got stronger. (1600/600) "Air Hummingbird attacks Stasis Soul, Hovering Peck!" The monster blew across the field and aimed its beak at the S Slow Shadow.

"Reverse card open." Tortoise's set card flipped up and his monster was suddenly glowing brightly. "I activate Tenraikyoka Muteki. This trap card powers up my battling monster by 1500 attack and defense points." (3000/3300)

Judai smiled and slid a card into his disk slot. "I activate the quickplay magic card Neospacian Return!" Air Hummingbird turned into a green comet of light that flew back into his hand and formed into a card shape. "One Neospacian on my field returns to my hand and I then special summon a Neospacian from my hand to the field!" Air Hummingbird appeared on his field in a crouching position. "Honeysuckle!" Once more the Hero duelist was bathed in green light as his life points increased.

Tortoise- 4250

Judai- 2100

Ichigo- 4000

"I place one card face-down and end my turn." Judai gave Ichigo a thumbs-up. ("I've made him use up one of his trap cards, now your chance to strike!")

The half-demon nodded in reply and drew. "I summon Infinity Traveler Forward Runner in defense mode!" A smooth metallic humanoid appeared on his field in a crouching position and started making a ticking noise. (500/400) "When this monster is summoned I declare any number of turns from zero to five, and then draw cards from my deck equal to that number. However I then skip that many draw phases."

"Reverse card open." Another of Tortoise's set cards flipped up and the alien monster exploded. "Tenraikyoka Ofu negates your activated monster effect and destroys it." The monster shuddered and exploded in a blast of power.

"You haven't stopped me yet." A card appeared on Ichigo's field. "I activate the magic card Foolish Burial, selecting one monster from my deck and sending it to my graveyard!" He flipped up Infinity Chaser and slid it into his graveyard slot. "And now I activate the magic card Withdraw Resources, letting me select one face-down magic or trap on my field and returning it to its owner's hand." His set card shimmered into his grasp and he held it up. "This was Inside Agent. When this trap card is returned to my hand from my field I may discard it to the graveyard and draw a number of cards equal to the number of turns its been face-down on field. That's two!" Pulling two more cards off of his deck he flipped them under his fingers and placed his index finger onto his deck once more. "Withdraw Resources lets me draw one card after its effect resolves."

One of the three cards in his hand was flipped up and it released a soft green glow. "I activate Pot of Greed, drawing two cards." Drawing an additional two cards, he smiled at what he had pulled. "Here we go, I activate the magic card Silent Prayers, special summoning one effect monster from my graveyard to the field in defense mode! Get out here Chaser!" The metallic form of Infinity Chaser appeared on his field in a flash of dark blue light. (2000/1000) Then it dropped into its crouching position and lowered onto his field.

"So you summoned a powerful monster, the one that defeated Coyote. However, without the power of fusion it's still very weak. Plus it's in defense mode, so what can you do I wonder?" Tortoise waved a hand across his field to indicate he had no remaining set cards. "Here's your chance to take me down too…"

Ichigo's lips curled upwards slightly in a sneer. "You're awfully full of yourself just because you've locked down fusion, but that isn't all of my tricks! I activate the magic card Fair Chance, selecting Infinity Chaser!" He looked over at Judai. "This card allows me to select a monster on my field, and then one other player. That player may choose to special summon a monster from their graveyard or hand that is the same level as the selected monster, or they may not. If they do I draw two cards!"

Judai lifted his Duel Disk-bearing arm up and his graveyard slot spat out of an arrow of rainbow light that formed into Neos. (2500/2000)

Ichigo drew twice and threw a card onto his disk, a humanoid covered in question marks appearing on his field. "I summon Infinity Traveler Riddle Master in attack mode!" (900/300) "The effect of Riddle Master requires I declare one card type! I declare trap and then look at the top card of my deck!" He flipped the card up to reveal a monster. "If I'm incorrect then Riddle Master switches to defense mode and the revealed card is shuffled back into my deck." He did so quickly, not seeming very disappointed. "Also I set a card face-down and end my turn."

Tortoise grasped the top card of his deck and narrowed his eyes. ("So I've drawn you…too bad for these boys.") He slid the card into his disk and it appeared on his field. "I activate Draw Drive!" The card had a completely blacked-over picture, but when he played it the picture changed to that of a man leaving afterimages behind him, as if he was moving slow motion. "The power of every Draw Drive differs depending on who uses it. In my case as long as this card remains in play you boys can only play one card per turn. Also, it cannot be destroyed by the effects of my opponent's cards."

"A Draw Drive…" Masami pursed his lips in concern. "Very bad, very bad indeed."

"Is that all you can say?" Manjyome crossed his arms across his chest and frowned at the newly activated card. "As long as that thing remains in play those two are limited to one card per turn."

"That's true, and there doesn't seem to be any downsides to it…" Masami lowered his glasses to glance at Tortoise. "Why is that guy sweating then?"

"Sweating?" Manjyome looked over at Tortoise, but it was too dark in the cave for him to be sure. "How can you tell?"

"I have my ways." The self-proclaimed genius readjusted his glasses. "That man didn't want to play that card, but he would rather overkill those two than underestimate them and get destroyed. It was the wisest move, but the downsides may be his undoing if his current attitude equates anything concerning the card."

("It hurts…") Tortoise reached up and grasped his chest, biting back the pain that flooded his body. It felt like the Draw Drive was trying to tear him apart bodily. ("This is the power that only a Phalanx can wield without suffering the downsides…") He held up magic card. "I activate the Card of Sanctity, forcing us all to draw until we are holding six cards!"

Judai and Ichigo quickly replenished their hands, as did Tortoise. The difference though was that the Agent could use all his cards at once, while those two didn't have that option.

"And now I activate the magic card Slowdown Beam!" Tortoise's card released a beam of slow-moving light that slithered across Ichigo's field. "During this turn you cannot activate trap cards during the battle phase."

"That's fine, I'll just take your Draw Drive since you seem so happy to try and lock us down!" Ichigo's set card flipped up quickly and the Draw Drive disappeared from Tortoise's disk slot, appearing in his grasp. "Shadow Theft allows me to select one magic or trap card in play and take control of it."

"Well it seems that's that…" Masami yawned in a very Tortoise-like way. "Ichigo really doesn't need a power-up like that, but whatever. Now they'll win for sure."

"Let's see what kind of effect your Draw Drive gives me, shall we?" The half demon slid the card into one of his disk slots and it appeared on his field. Nothing happened though, except that Ichigo dropped to his knees gasping for air. "Wha…"

"Ichigo, what's wrong?" Judai glanced over at his partner worriedly, even moreso when he didn't get any response. "Ichigo!"

"It seems that the boy overstepped his bounds by trying to control the Draw Drive. Now he will suffer for it." Tortoise started shuffling his hand around. "That is the downside of a Draw Drive…it is capable of killing weaker users, or perhaps those with bad hearts."

("Bad hearts?") Masami grimaced. "Ichigo's family line has a history of very weak hearts. Ichigo, take the card out of the disk unless you want to die."

"No," The half demon stumbled to his feet, still struggling to draw breath. "This card…is mine now…no one takes it from me until I'm done with it. After all," The hair currently hanging over his eyes parted slightly to reveal a single eye that nearly seemed to roll around in the socket before coming to a stop so that it was perfectly locked onto Tortoise. "I haven't gotten my chance to destroy this guy."

The Agent, even in this oppressive darkness, felt like he could see that eye perfectly. And it scared him. ("I've had this feeling once before, in another mission…") "You've fallen into the shadows so quickly, have you?"

Judai felt fairly lost, but so far Manjyome was keeping up with this sudden rush of information. "What are you talking about? How did he fall into shadows?"

Tortoise sighed sadly and adjusted his cap slightly. "It's when a shadow duelist withdraws in on themselves during a duel. The darkness around them fills that void. What we're looking at right now is nothing more than a hollow body being controlled by the spirits of the Darkness Realm."

"Controlled?" Ichigo shook his head weakly, almost stiffly. "No…it's just a matter of fact that Ichigo can't beat you, and he made the stupid mistake of doing something that would more-than-likely kill him if he didn't nullify its power with his own." A dull aura of red came to life around him. "Anyway, by all means continue your turn. After all once this duel is done, if I win, I'm going to kill you all…especially you..." He lifted a hand to point at Judai.

"Huh?" Judai glanced behind him to make sure he wasn't standing between Ichigo and the person being pointed at. "What'd I do to get you so mad?"

"Mad?" Ichigo shook his head slightly. "No, no, no, that's not my reasoning. I just like causing trouble, that, killing people, and…lattes. Those are pretty good."

Judai took a step back away from Ichigo, blinking in confusion. "Ummm, Masami…what's the matter with him?"

"That's what I'd like to know…" Masami frowned at whoever was standing in Ichigo's place on the field. This didn't come as much of a surprise to him as it should have, especially after having learned just how many times things like this had happened with the boy. "Do you have a name, creature?"

"Creature?" Ichigo snickered, his hair still mostly hiding his eyes. "Oh, I suppose you could call me Kuroichigo if you wished. It really doesn't matter much."

"Blackberry?" Manjyome frowned. "This Ichigo guy is nuts."

"Yup, as nutty as they get." Masami glanced over at Tortoise. "Though I know you're trying to kill Ichigo, I suggest you do something about him before trying to take down Judai. To use the terminology of someone I know, this has all the signs of a situation where you're about to be 'pwned' savagely."

Tortoise wasn't really listening now. ("That name…is the same name he used before.") Narrowing his eyes, he knew what he had to do now. ("If, during his turn, those creatures come out, then I'll know the truth.") However, first he had to set up his own defenses. He knew all too well what that thing used the first time they encountered it.

_To be continued…_

_The duel continues, but something has definitely changed. Though the emergence of Kuroichigo isn't a complete surprise, the fact that Tortoise knows of him is. What are the creatures that the Agent was talking about, and what will happen now that Kuroichigo has the Draw Drive under his control?_

_Next Chapter: Initiation to the Big Leagues (Part 2)_


	9. Initiation to the Big Leagues Part 2

Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh GX. I do own the stuff you don't recognize though, so there you go.

Shifting Generations Saga

Chapter 9: Initiation to the Big Leagues (Part 2)

"_Yup, as nutty as they get." Masami glanced over at Tortoise. "Though I know you're trying to kill Ichigo, I suggest you do something about him before trying to take down Judai. To use the terminology of someone I know, this has all the signs of a situation where you're about to be 'pwned' savagely."_

_Tortoise wasn't really listening now. ("That name…is the same name he used before.") Narrowing his eyes, he knew what he had to do now. ("If, during his turn, those creatures come out, then I'll know the truth.") However, first he had to set up his own defenses. He knew all too well what that thing used the first time they encountered it._

Manjyome, though distracted by the duel, suddenly realized that there was something producing light off to Tortoise's side. ("A laptop? What's those weird lines on the screen…") He nudged Masami and silently pointed at the portable computer before shrugging to indicate his interest.

The self-proclaimed genius glanced at the screen, as if he could somehow read it from as far away as he was.

"It's still my turn, and from the looks of it you won't be getting any kind of bonus from the effect of the Draw Drive. What a shame." The UNSS Agent snapped up a card in front of him and tossed it onto his disk, a featureless black humanoid with a giant blue F on its chest appearing on his field. "I summon Slow Shadow Fulcrum Shifter in attack mode!" (1200/1200) "Special ability activate!"

Four strings of light went from the four monsters on Judai and Kuroichigo's fields, flowing into the three Slow Shadows on his field. "All monsters on the opponent's field lose 200 attack points. For every monster the opponent has in play my monsters gain 200 attack points until the end of the turn!" (2000/1200) (2700/1600) (2300/1800)

Judai paled as he realized that Neos only had 2300 attack points now. ("He'll be destroyed, as will Air Hummingbird and one of Ichigo's monsters…") This was bad. In one turn they were going to lose most of the cards on their field.

"Is that all?" Kuroichigo grasped one of the cards in his hand. "You're underestimating me, just like those other fools did. And for that, you have no choice but to accept your fate as my chew toy, little mouse." The card he held up released a flow of darkness that washed across the cavern floor slowly. "Shadow Festival activates when the opponent summons a monster. I send one magic card from my hand to the graveyard and we move ahead to the battle phase…"

"That's fine." Tortoise lifted up a hand to point at Neos. "I intended to do that anyway."

"No, no, bad mousie…" Kuroichigo discarded a magic card. "It isn't your battle phase anymore. Shadow Festival plays a little reversing game with all player's battle phases." The magic card suddenly reappeared on his field. "In other words while this continuous magic card remains in play your battle phase is my battle phase and vice versa."

"So you simply have escaped one turn's worth of defeat, have you?" The Agent glanced at his hand. "I'm holding the necessary cards to lock you down, and since your monsters are in defense mode you can't fight back…"

The boy threw back his head and cackled crazily. "MY monsters!? You fool…" He licked his lips and motioned to the two Infinity monsters on his field. "These pieces of trash aren't mine, they're that fool Ichigo's. Do you think I'd run these kind of pathetic trash monsters? No, not when I've got my own monsters to use."

Both Infinity Chaser and Riddle Master faded off his field. "The effect of the card I discarded, Sideshow, allows me to shuffle all monsters on my field back into my deck and then draw an equal number of cards. After which I then normal summon a number of monsters from my hand equal to the number I returned."

("He's going to summon monsters regardless of the fact that it's his opponent's turn.") Judai felt a chill run down his spine as he watched the changed boy draw a pair of cards from his deck. ("What's with that look in his eyes?")

"Here they come, my precious performers!" Kuroichigo's first monster was a masked clown dressed in black and silver. "Psycho Shadow Neo Peten in attack mode!" (400/1000) The monster bowed to Tortoise before disappearing in a swirling pillar of wind. "I sacrifice Neo Peten to normal summon Psycho Shadow Beast Torturer!" A sneering demon dressed in black leathers with a whip in hand appeared in place of the clown. (2200/1000)

"Psycho Shadows…" Tortoise snarled in rage and pointed at the Beast Torturer. "You are the one then, the one that killed our recovery team!"

"That would be me, if you're referring to those weaklings that couldn't even duel properly." Kuroichigo snapped his hand up and his Torturer cracked its whip against the ground twice, a pair of rotted undead lions exploding out of the ground and appearing on his field. "When Beast Torturer is normal summoned I special summon two Psycho Beast Tokens in attack mode!" (500/500)x2

A card slid out of his graveyard and he held it up to show that it was Neo Peten. "When Neo Peten is sent to my graveyard I remove it to special summon the other two from my deck to the field!" Two new masked clowns appeared in play alongside the rotted lions. (400/1000)x2

"You're seriously summoning these things in attack mode?" Masami asked evenly, as he knew nothing about these Shadows or their abilities.

"Of course. Why would I be afraid of a chew toy, I ask you?" Kuroichigo motioned to the blank Draw Drive sitting on his field, which suddenly gained text. "And this card's ability lets me set up the perfect method to kill you slowly! While this card is face-up on my field I can pay 500 life points to activate a magic card from my hand, or 700 life points to activate a trap." A red aura lit up around him as he slid a card into his disk and it appeared on his field. "First Robbin' Goblin, a classic continuous trap that says whenever my monsters deal you life point damage you discard a card at random from your hand."

Tortoise- 4250

Judai- 2100

Ichigo- 3300

"And next a card which has a title I dislike, but oh well." Another red aura lit up around him and another continuous trap card appeared on his field. "It's Rival Strengthening, which activates when an opponent takes battle damage to their life points. They regain the lost life points and an additional 200, while I draw a card."

Tortoise- 4250

Judai- 2100

Ichigo- 2600

"And one final card, just for kicks…" His field magic card slot opened and he was covered in a blue glow momentarily. "The field magic card Psycho Carnival!" All around them the darkness of the cavern changed as giant black spires rose up into the air, and a spiked three-ring appeared in play, with each of them in the center of one. "When a Psycho type monster on my field attacks a stronger monster on your field that attack becomes a direct one! Beast Torturer, attack Reflex Drainer!"

"What!?" Tortoise stumbled back slightly in surprise right before the demon's whip passed through his monsters and crashed into his chest, sending him stumbling backwards.

Tortoise- 3850

Judai- 2100

Ichigo- 2100

After a moment of stunned silence Kuroichigo covered his face with a hand and nearly fell over with laughter. "I scared you didn't I? Well don't worry, the effect of Psycho Carnival reduces the damage of my direct attack to 400." His hand lowered slightly to show that his fangs were bared. "Or shouldn't you?"

"Just what are…" Tortoise dropped to one knee and threw his hand up over his mouth, red droplets of blood coming from between his fingers. "What did you do…"

"Why is he bleeding?" Judai's eyes widened as he realized there was a deep slash in the man's vest where the Torturer's whip had connected. "You…you actually injured him?"

Kuroichigo shot a smug sideways glance at the Hero duelist before motioning to his Rival Strengthening and Robbin' Goblin cards. "Activate!" The first released a green glow around the man while its owner drew a card, and then second caused one of Tortoise's hand cards to disappear.

Tortoise- 4450

Judai- 2100

Ichigo- 2100

"And next up, my Neo Petens!" The boy cackled wildly as the two clowns faded away, appearing behind the Agent only just as they stabbed him in the back with their knives and sent a short spurt of blood shooting from his lower stomach region to the ground.

"Stop it!" Judai screamed, the severity of these attacks truly dawning on him with this. "You're going to kill him!"

"Don't be ridiculous…" Kuroichigo motioned to Robbin' Goblin and Rival Strengthening. "He won't die until I let him. Activate now!" Two of the remaining four cards in Tortoise's hand disappeared, and his life point total returned to normal and then rose.

Tortoise- 4850

Judai- 2100

Ichigo- 2100

"And now to draw." Adding two cards to his hand, Kuroichigo pointed at the severely bleeding Tortoise and cackled. "Look at him squirm! It's hilarious how easily these humans are injured!"

"I've seen enough," Manjyome started to step forward, but was stopped by Masami's hand grasping his wrist. "Unhand me and let's hand him before he kills someone!"

"That's not a good idea." A lock of his green hair falling in front of one of his glasses lenses, Masami took a step back and pulled the black-coated boy with him. "Trust me on this one. We don't want to disturb whoever and whatever that is."

"Who?" Tilting his head over at the two of them, Kuroichigo tsked and held up a finger chidingly. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here, boys. Oh, and now to continue my battle phase." His two Psycho Beast Tokens dissolved and an iron-helmeted giant appeared on his field. "Psycho Shadow Strong Crusher is tribute summoned." (2800/1000)

"How…" Tortoise spat up some more blood, but managed to stand up to his feet. "You already used your normal summon to bring out that Beast Torturer…"

"True, but haven't you ever heard of Quick Summon." Flicking up the quickplay magic card of the same name from his hand, he then motioned to his newly summoned monster. "Strong Crusher activates its effect now. When this monster is summoned all defense mode monsters in play are destroyed. Crushing Blow!"

"What!?" Judai barely managed to get his guard up before he was pushing against a mighty windstorm as his Air Hummingbird was crushed underneath the Psycho Shadow's hammer. "Why!?"

"I think I've made my opinion fairly clear, at least for the time being…" Kuroichigo pointed at Neos. "Clear that eyesore now! Ultimate Hammer!" His monster struck Neos upside the skull and shattered him violently.

Tortoise- 4850

Judai- 1600

Ichigo- 2100

"Rival Strengthening activates now…" The boy drew once while Judai's life points restored themselves.

Tortoise- 4850

Judai- 2300

Ichigo- 2100

"And now for Robbin' Goblin…"

Judai gasped as one of the six cards in his hand disappeared. "Black Panther!"

"Sorry for your little kitty, but don't worry you'll be joining him soon!" The two Neo Petens and the Beast Torturer on Kuroichigo's field faded away, replaced by a skull-headed creature in ragged ringmaster clothing. "And that's all thanks to this!" A continuous magic card appeared on his field, revealing a picture of three spiked metal rings with different bizarre and horrid acts happening in them. "Three-Ring Atrocities, while in play, lets me normal summon a Psycho Shadow from my hand by discarding a magic or trap card from either my hand or in play. I discard a hand card and bring out Psycho Shadow Monstrous Ringmaster!" (?) "This monster can be summoned easily, but his effects are only good if he is brought out by sacrificing Psycho Shadows. One equals an attack and defense of 2000. Two equals the ability to once per turn goad another Psycho Shadow into attacking at the cost of his own attack, and three is that I can shuffle a Psycho Shadow that finishes its attack from my field back into my deck and add monsters to my hand with level stars equal to that of the returned monster's level." (2000/2000)

Tortoise gasped right before his Reflex Drainer was crushed by Strong Crusher's hammer and destroyed, the impact rushing his body and causing his wounds to spray out more blood. Another card was blown out of his grasp and through squinted and blurry vision he could see Kuroichigo drawing a card.

Tortoise- 5050

Judai- 2300

Ichigo- 1600

"Monstrous Ringmaster's effect activates now." Shuffling Strong Crusher back into his deck, the boy removed two cards and added them to his hand before shuffling. "Next up is to use the effect of Three-Ring Atrocities!" Rival Strengthening disappeared from his field and an emaciated man shakily holding daggers in his fingers appeared on his field. "Shaky Knifeman is summoned." (1000/1000) "When this guy comes out one random monster in play is destroyed. Let's see who he chooses…oh wait, thanks to the guaranteed effect of Monstrous Ringmaster my Psycho Shadows can't hurt me with their effects! Knife Wilderness!"

The Fulcrum Shifter was pierced by a sudden rain of steady daggers, followed by which the nearly-skeletal creature appeared in front of Tortoise and stabbed him in the gut, blowing the last card out of his hand.

Tortoise- 4650

Judai- 2300

Ichigo- 1600

"And now to get rid of Robbin' Goblin for my Three-Ring." Sliding the trap into his graveyard, Kuroichigo held up the other monster he had searched for. "Come out now, my other Shaky Knifeman!" (1000/1000) A copy of his last monster appeared in play and instantly hurled its knives at the remaining Slow Shadow, blasting it away. "Direct attack!"

Trying to cover his knife wound with an already sticky hand, Tortoise barely had time to react before a sharp pain ran up his back and he collapsed to the ground.

Tortoise- 3650

Judai- 2300

Ichigo- 1600

"And now for the final blow!" Snapping his hand up, Kuroichigo revealed a quickplay magic card with a picture of the Monstrous Ringmaster standing in front of a crowd of demons with spotlights surrounding him. "The Main Horror lets me send magic and trap cards on my field to the graveyard. For every one sent one Psycho Shadow in play gets to attack once more during this turn!" Psycho Carnival faded away, as did Three-Ring Atrocities and Shadow Festival, leaving the Draw Drive in play. "Everyone, direct attack for the end of this loser's life! Bye-bye!"

Tortoise sighed weakly as he watched the three Psycho Shadows fly towards him. ("This…is the end? Really? I'm kind of curious as to what this kid's score was…") From here he couldn't see the laptop though, so that was of no real consequence. It didn't matter anyway. ("Oh well, I guess we all have to…")

Kuroichigo's insane laughter stopped and turned to a silent scowl of anger as a glowing barrier appeared in front of his three Psycho Shadows and blew them to nothingness. "What!?"

"I won't let you kill anyone…" Stumbling to his feet, Judai turned to face Kuroichigo angrily. "Are you out of your mind!?"

"Not yet…anyway…" Kuroichigo snarled and his graveyard slot started to glow. "So you used Mirror Force to defeat my attackers so they couldn't hurt the guy that is holding your friend as a hostage. Yeah, can we say conflicting actions? Anyway, when Monstrous Ringmaster is destroyed by a card effect I can discard a card from my hand to set one card from my deck onto my field. The only restriction is that the card has to be the same type as the card that destroyed my Ringmaster." A face-down card shimmered onto his field. "It's still loser's turn, but he has zero cards left so let's just leave it to him, eh?"

"Draw!" Judai realized that now he had two enemies to fight, and if he didn't stop Ichigo now then someone was going to die. ("I can't let that happen!") Then he remembered that Tortoise had Fusion Prohibition Area in play. ("How am I going to get around…") His eyes widened at the card he had drawn. ("This card will work!")

A magic card appeared on his field and from his graveyard Bubbleman's card emerged. "The Warrior Returning Alive returns Bubbleman, and then I summon it!" The blue superhero appeared on his field. (800/1200) "Because it's my only card I draw twice!" Another magic card appeared, and in a blast of rainbow light Neos appeared on his field. "Oversoul activates now, return Neos!" (2500/2000)

"And now for Graceful Charity!" Drawing three times, Judai quickly discarded two cards from his hand. "Right Justice activates now! For every Elemental Hero on my field one magic or trap card in play can be destroyed! My choices should be obvious!" Fusion Prohibition Area and the Draw Drive exploded.

Kuroichigo, who had been sneering, suddenly started to stumble back and forth weakly. "No…you insolent little puffball-head…how dare…" His legs gave out and he dropped to his knees. Even though he saw Neos coming, all he could was meekly lift us his arms before the space-faring hero struck him in the ribs.

Tortoise- 3650

Judai- 2300

Ichigo- 0

While Ichigo's field faded away, Judai slid three cards into his disk. "I set three cards face-down and end my turn." Then he turned to look at Tortoise. "Not that it…"

"From my graveyard…" Fusion Prohibition Area appeared on the Agent's field face-up. "This card…is returned by the effect of Stasis Enforcement. When it goes to the graveyard I can, at the end of a turn, return one destroyed continuous magic or trap card to play by removing it." Then he drew, looking barely alive.

"Don't mess around! You're in no condition to duel, and even if you were what's the point!?" Judai couldn't grasp this kind of determination…even he wouldn't go this far unless it was for the lives of others… "…Impossible…you can't actually think…"

"I won't let him kill again." Eyes filled with a strange energy, something that made him capable of ignoring his crippling wounds, Tortoise slid the drawn card into his disk and Fusion Prohibition Area shattered. "Erosion Vein lets me destroy a face-up magic or trap card on my field to draw two cards."

One of the two remaining cards flipped up and suddenly Judai's entire field was frozen, locked in time. "Emergence of the Time God…at the cost of the rest of my draw phases…lets me place a Stasis Counter on all cards in play. They cannot be used. All that's left now is to use the other effect. Come out now, Stasis Shadow God Endless!" A blast of black energy erupted from his field and formed into a giant roaring black dragon with a blue E on its chest. (2500/2300) "For every Stasis Counter in play it gains 300 attack points!" (4000/2300)

Judai stared at the monster, not because of its attack points but because of the energy he could sense flowing from between Tortoise and it. "This monster, it's your partner?"

"Not quite that easily described…" Tortoise stood up straight, his energy restoring itself. "He is a Shadow God, a powerful aspect of my deck. He is myself, my deck's avatar, in a way. All Shadow and Force decks have at least one, some two or three. Rarely beyond that unless there are special circumstances. And now, Endless, blaze away and clear that blue annoyance! Inferno of Time!"

Judai already knew he couldn't use his set cards, but that didn't matter. "I activate the effect of my monster!"

"Bubbleman is sealed, boy!" Tortoise was ready to die, but not until he had secured the target. That was his mission, and he would not fail in it!

"Who said I was talking about Bubbleman?" Judai snapped up a monster card from his hand that had a picture of a little brown puffball dressed with a red band over its eyes and a little blue cape. "Hero Kuriboh activates when a Hero is attacked, summoning itself and redirecting the strike!" (300/200) The puffball on the card appeared in play.

Endless snorted and exhaled a jet of blue fire that destroyed the Hero Kuriboh. "So you saved yourself, but thanks to my Stasis Counters you can't switch the modes of your monsters either. Next turn is the end, just like my turn is now."

"If you're so determined, then we'll just to have whether or not this is the end." Judai pulled the top card of his deck free. ("Can I win? I don't know, to be honest…after watching Ichigo act like that, I'm not sure who to believe anymore.") His head turned to look at the fallen Ichigo. ("Is he really that evil? What he was doing just now, without a doubt, was evil…but…") "I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn," Tortoise pointed at Bubbleman. "Endless, finish this!" The dragon snorted out another blast of blue flames, though it didn't connect with its target. Instead it crashed into a crackling barrier of electrical energy. "Hero Barrier? That's fine, you can't defend forever. End turn."

Judai, his face solemn since he was so deep in thought, drew. "End turn."

"Once more, attack Bubbleman!" Endless howled and this time exhaled a roaring fireball of blue, but this time it connected with a barrier of green light. "Draining Shield!?"

Tortoise- 3650

Judai- 6300

("What should I do? What if I'm making the wrong choice? What if Ichigo really is…") Judai drew slowly and added the card to his hand. "I can't do anything." His tone was strangely disconnected, considering Sho's life was resting on this. However something about this seemed wrong. Was his choice wrong? "I set one card facedown and end turn."

"Endless!" Tortoise had nothing left. All he could rely on was his Shadow God, which proceeded to blast Bubbleman into ash with its flames.

Tortoise- 3650

Judai- 3100

"Reverse card open…Hero Signal." A beam of light projected into the sky and Clayman appeared on Judai's field in a crouching position. However there was still no excitement or emotion behind his voice. Just uncertainty… "Draw…I place one card face-down. End turn." ("What should I do Neos? I have to decide huh?") The space-faring hero couldn't answer him even if he wished such a thing though. Right now Neos was locked in time.

"And now, since the number of Stasis Counters in play has lowered, so does the power of Endless." (3700/2300) Tortoise's monster unleashed its flames once more, this time obliterating Neos completely. (3400/2300)

Tortoise- 3650

Judai- 1900

Now Judai was on the path to losing, with little to fall back on. If he lost here, then maybe Sho would be set free and they'd take…

_("Is that what you want though?")_ The voice was in his mind, and he wasn't sure if it was his conscience or something else. _("I'm surprised you'd suddenly become so deep, though I suppose seeing such violence might explain it. Well let me simplify it for you, in terms that you can understand. What would a hero do?")_

"Are you ready to surrender? You're running out of deck cards and Endless is too powerful for anything in your arsenal at the moment." Tortoise felt his power rising even though he was wounded. "Even now I am growing stronger; this duel is pushing my limits. For that I thank you, but I can't accept your protection of this murderer."

"…" Manjyome frowned and lifted his hand up to point at Judai. "Judai, back down. Let them take Ichigo." When he realized that there was nothing but dead silence following his declaration, he snarled angrily and pointed with more conviction. "This guy, this Ichigo is dangerous, and if just this kind of duel made him snap and go psycho imagine what will happen if he's dueling another student? Then what will you do!?"

"I won't argue against that logic, but if that's your choice then make it." Masami turned his back to the duel and to Judai. "Your decision?"

Tortoise's grim face melted slightly to surprise as off to his side the laptop suddenly started beeping wildly. ("It's picking up a spike in energy!?")

"My decision…" Judai suddenly drew sharply, his eyes showing that he hadn't given up the fight. "Is that it doesn't matter who you are or who he is right now! All that's important is this duel, and having fun while doing so!" His smile, the smile that loved dueling, returned along with that declaration. A magic card appeared on his field. "Hope of Fifth. By shuffling five Elemental Heroes back into my deck I can draw three cards!"

"You don't have five Heroes in your graveyard," Tortoise mentioned numbly, though he was almost not paying attention. His eyes were on the laptop, and his mind was reflecting on Judai's declaration. ("All that's important is the duel? Such purity in a duelist…")

"That's true, but easily fixed!" Judai's set card flipped up and his deck slid out of its slot. "Hero Evacuation lets me send two Elemental Heroes from my deck to my graveyard!" He held up Burst Lady and Edgeman, which he slid into the graveyard. Followed by which he removed them, Featherman, Neos, and Bubbleman. Shuffling them all into his deck, he drew three cards.

"Judai…" Manjyome clenched his fists in anger. "Then you'd better not lose, if you're so hot on defending this guy!"

"Like I said, that's unimportant right now." A magic card appeared on Judai's field and Clayman faded away. "Hero Tag-Out lets me send a face-up Elemental Hero on my field back to deck, followed by which I summon an equal level hero!" An explosion of air erupted around his field and a blue-armored hero with fans attached to his back appeared in play. "Elemental Hero Airman!" (1800/300)

"When Airman is summoned I can add one Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand. My choice is Sparkman!" Adding the card to his hand, Judai held up the last magic card he was going to need this duel. "Sorry Tortoise, but I can't end this in a really cool way! With HERO Flash I remove the four cards that it requires be in my graveyard from the game to special summon a normal Elemental Hero from my deck to play! Come out now, Neos!" (2500/2000) The space-faring hero appeared in a blast of light alongside Airman.

Tortoise still wasn't paying attention. Instead he was more focused on what should have been impossible. ("So much power…so quickly…")

"Come out now Sparkman!" The yellow and blue superhero appeared on Judai's field in a flash of energy. (1600/1400) "HERO Flash lets my normal Elemental Heroes attack directly during this turn!"

Gasping, Tortoise brought his attention back to the game. "Incredible…"

"Gotcha, but it was fun while it lasted! HERO Flash!" Neos and Sparkman turned into two balls of light which hurtled across the field and slammed into the Agent's chest, sending him skidding back a little before the holograms faded from the field.

Tortoise- 3650

Judai- 1900

"You defeated me with four cards in your hand…brushed me aside in fact…" Tortoise smiled, his face already becoming pale. "I can't defeat you even if I tried my hardest, which I did. Yuki Judai, you are a better duelist than myself." Collapsing to the ground, he barely managed to hold himself up with one hand. "Judai, send those two to get your friend quickly…in two minutes upon my defeat this cave was rigged to collapse from the explosives."

"What!?" Manjyome and Masami rushed down the path of the cave as quickly as possible.

Judai ran up to Tortoise as quickly as his legs would carry him. "Can you stand!? We have to get out of here!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I failed…however…" Tortoise suddenly grabbed Judai's disk, trying to drag him down. "I will take you with me!"

"GAH!" Judai jumped back and Tortoise gave up his attempt without a fight. "What are you doing!? Are you really…"

"Take him and run, now!" Stumbling to his feet, Tortoise started to reach for his deck. "Or else I will cut you down where you stand!"

Eyes wide, Judai quickly did so. Using his shoulder to support the unconscious Ichigo, he moved towards the exit as quickly as possible. And suddenly he was moving much faster as Masami helped him with the other shoulder.

Tortoise watched the five boys leave with a heavy heart. ("I suppose it was a nice duel, though getting rapidly stabbed kind of sucked.") Collapsing back against his couch, he kicked his feet up and brought the laptop right where it was named to be. "I believe you, Yuki Judai. If you'd defend someone like that murderer then I can no longer think he was a murderer."

It wasn't the boy, Ichigo, that was the killer. It was that thing, that Psycho Shadow user. However, that didn't matter anymore. Clicking the recordings his laptop had gathered and dropping them into a folder, the Agent uplinked them to the satellite high above them. "Careful, guys…these kids aren't close to…normal…" He slumped forward against the computer, the blood from his cuts coming out in a steady flow now that Endless wasn't empowering him. "Finally….ever since I got to Agent status I haven't had a good vacation…I get to finally take a nice long nap."

Then the explosives went off, bringing the cave down on top of him.

-------------------------------

Stumbling into daylight, the five were hurled to the ground as a spray of stone, dust, and smoke shot out of the cave behind them. With one last roar, the entrance to cave was revealed to have been completely blocked.

"We got out just in time…" Sho sat up and adjusted his yellow uniform, turning to Masami. "Thank you for helping me, whoever you are…and of course you too, Thunder."

The three conscious members of the group didn't look very happy though. Judai the least of all. "What was he thinking?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" An echoing loud voice boomed from just a little bit down the path.

Jumping to his feet, Masami clenched his fists and got ready to attack if need be. "Who's there!?"

"Shut it, accomplice!" Someone dropped down onto the path, and stood up to full towering height before the green-haired boy. "I am the head Phalanx of UNSS, Lord Beast!" Thumbing at his chest, the man puffed out his chest magnificently. "What happened to Tortoise!?"

"…" Masami twitched a couple of times and before he could stop himself… "First answer the more important question and tell me what happened to your hair! You do understand that disco died decades ago, right 'Fro Man?"

"It's not 'Fro Man, you insolent little accomplice! And the next time you mock my mighty hair you will be destroyed!" Lord Beast cracked his knuckles and suddenly was wearing a Duel Disk, though no one had seen him arrive with one and he wasn't carrying a backpack or anything. "Now tell me where Tortoise is or else things will become rather dicey!"

"And if we told you that he's buried under that?" Manjyome stepped forward and sneered coldly, motioning to the collapsed cave. "What would you do then, hmm Lord 'Fro?"

A low growl came from the throat of the man, and it was almost as if there lightning was exploding behind Lord Beast in a very dramatic fashion…then one of the two camouflaged men holding a lightning backdrop behind their leader sneezed, tripped over a rock, and he and the other man went rolling down the side of the mountain.

And yet Lord Beast hadn't changed expressions, his Duel Disk already loaded and activated. "So, who's gonna be the guy I beat the stuffing out of first, huh? I was just going to take the boy but forget it, now I've got to crush all of you accomplices too!"

"It seems we have no choice then," Masami activated his Duel Disk and loaded his deck into it.

"Other than taking you down." Manjyome finished while his own disk activated.

"A two-on-one, huh?" Lord Beast put a hand to his mouth and whistled sharply. Moments later there were at least a dozen men in camouflage similar to the attire of the earlier two soldiers standing behind him. "Let's burn up the dance floor, boys!"

"Duel!" All three of them yelled at once, drawing their opening hands.

_To be continued…_


End file.
